According to Hollywood, teenage girls in the 1950s waited anxiously by the phone, too shy to call anyone, but then talked between 20 minutes and two hours once the phone rang. What was a Hollywood myth almost exactly describes the Washington Apple Pi's modem servers.
This Apple IIGS computer (the case has been removed to aid in cooling) never makes a phone call. Instead, it patiently waits for an incoming call to its modem, and then devotes its entire "attention" to the caller, posting messages to bulletin boards, sending and receiving electronic mail, and uploading and downloading files.
(Photo Copyright 1997 by Jon C. Thomason; taken with an Apple
QuickTake 150 camera)
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