> A phreaker going by Joybubbles was the first to exploit the tone by whistling.

Joybubbles (formerly Joe Engressia) specifically denied being the first. In this interview (no timestamp), he mentions having heard of others phreaking as far back as the 50s: https://www.2600.com/offthehook/mp3files/1991/off_the_hook__...

He also demonstrates whistling 2600hz during that interview, including doing so on one of the only US trunks in service at the time still using it for supervision.

> Later, a toy whistle in a cereal box was found to be able to produce the tone, leading to further exploit by John Draper, aka, Cap'n Crunch.

Not true, even he admitted, belatedly, that Denny Teresi introduced him to it:

> https://www.dailydot.com/debug/john-draper-beyond-the-little...

> Denny called me and told me about this whistle that blew the magic tone that disconnects long distance phone calls, and that he had a spare. He asked me if I could drive him to San Francisco so he could show me how it worked.

Thanks. I was in Team Virus and later Team Phreak, and we had plenty of people coming to tell their stories of being either Draper or the first to discover red/blue boxing after we put out NPA-NXX. A lot of absolute nonesense, but tons of fun while it lasted.

Oh, to live again in 1995! The year of peak payphone and working red boxes. It was glorious, but sadly lives on only in our memories: https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/pay-phones-coming-back...

"The stark shift happened fast; in 1995, the number of pay phones in the U.S. peaked at 2.6 million, Slate reported in 2022. In less than three decades, that's dwindled to fewer than 100,000."

What’s amazing to me to think about is how getting a free long distance call itself was a cool achievement then. (I’m aware that like all hacking, phreaking was in large part about the challenge rather than like “theft of service” but still.) I am old enough to remember that world for sure, and since we were poor long distance DID seem like a luxury good when I was a kid! But it’s just funny today since anyone who wants a voice call with anyone on earth, they can have one for free with like 30 different mainstream “apps.”

Thank you for the corrections! Looks like I have to revisit some history. I never did make it that far back in the Off The Hook archives, despite being a 2600 subscriber for about the last decade. Hacking history is nothing short of muddy waters hiding all sorts of interesting things.

I was born in the very late 1970's, so I had the pleasure of trying to build my own Blue Box just as payphones were starting to see their death in the early 1990's. It was my first real attempt to be part of a group I felt I belonged with; the hackers. I grew up with the verbal history I mentioned, which as you pointed out is factually incorrect, but I cannot deny the power that mythos had over my thinking for the last few decades.

Shameless plug for my book on the history of the subject, for those interested: https://explodingthephone.com/

Nice! I just ordered a copy and can't wait to read it! Getting Steve Wozniak to write the forward is quite literally a "ringing" endorsement. ;-)

Woz spoke at UC Berkeley (might have been 1998 commencement), and I asked him to sign an issue of 2600 magazine. After he signed it he flipped through it and asked if 2600 was still good and worth reading because he was thinking of getting a subscription for his son.

I was going to suggest this book as well, but no need if you're here doing it. Just a quick thanks for the book! I've read it multiple times whenever I feel nostalgic, and recommend when the subject comes up. I've even gifted a few copies.

Thank you!

Not surprised at all to see the author on here. Your book is marvelous. I demolished your book on a flight a few years back, thoroughly enjoyed it, and was sad that it was all over so quickly (both the book, and the phreaking era). It has a permanent home on my shelf next to "The Cuckoo's Egg" as one of my favourite old tech storybooks and I recommend it to anyone vaguely interested in the subject.

Thanks for the kind words, they mean a lot!

I enjoyed your book

Thanks!

I, too, enjoyed your book. Everyone go buy it, it's good.

Thank you, appreciate the plug! :-)

Hey, I notice you sell via a variety of sources. Which one ensures you the most ROI? I've always been curious, and like supporting others, but I worry that there's so many hands between you and your customer that by the time it the money reaches you, there is not much left.

That's a very kind question, thanks! In terms of what I get in the end, it doesn't really matter where you buy it (e.g., Amazon, local bookstore, whatever), although I'd love it if you supported your local bookstore -- they need help! Format matters a bit more in terms of royalty percentage (I get a higher percentage on ebooks)but ebooks also are priced lower, so the net to me between paperback and ebook is not much different.

Just a heads up, the Amazon link from your site lands on the hardcopy version which there are only used copies of.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll attend to that!

> for those too young to remember or not part of the phreaking crowd

Always important to remember that the telecom revolution was underway in 1890, let alone 1990. I still think the telephone system trumps the Internet in terms of revolutionary impact on society.