Yes! That is exactly what I was thinking, especially when "Captain Crunch" keeps talking about "the system."

Exploring a complex system and trying to break it down to it's underlying rules is the ultimate engaging activity. It's a little less so when that system is man-made, though I imagine Ma Bell at that time was so large and complex that emergent properties had arisen of the system that no one knew.

The idea of riding the wires using your voice because you have perfect pitch does feel very Neo in the Matrix though. Going to have to watch that movie again as I tail -f some logs.

The article itself could be the basis for a movie.