This simple question from a homebuyer sparked disbelief: ‘I feel so ancient’
- Replies 18
A first-time home buyer recently sent Aussies of all generations into a nostalgia run after asking an innocent question.
What was the question about? Well, it involved an obscure wall attachment in their property.
The homebuyer shared the beige-coloured contraption, which they had just spotted in his new home, on social media.
They asked, 'What is this? Have never seen this type of connection in my life. Can anyone enlighten me as to the use of this?'
The comment thread soon became flooded with responses and expressed their disbelief.
'That's it. I'm dead. This is no criticism of you—more of feeling geriatric,' one exasperated user commented.
An Aussie humorously exclaimed, 'I am outraged that I'm being made to feel so ancient. I will write a telegram to the Postmaster-General to complain.’
'[Homebuyer] just made a whole generation feel old. Thanks, hope you are happy.'
But one user kindly explained, ‘It's a phone connection for the old landline.’
‘The phone itself had a plug that fitted in it. They were decommissioned as NBN rolled through.’
The device has the Telecom logo, bringing nostalgia back to a generation before the country’s main telecommunications operator evolved into Telstra.
A spokesperson for Telstra said that the company had 316,000 active home and business landlines across the country as of June this year.
They said this number was in millions three decades ago because ‘almost all homes in the early '90s had a landline phone connection" before households began ditching landlines for mobile phones.’
The spokesperson added while the company no longer sells old-style connectors, they can still provide customers with a ‘handy little adaptor’ to convert their devices if they wish to access the network directly via the original ports.
The spokesperson also provided an informative diagram to illustrate how the adaptors work:
‘Also, a little fun fact about that particular old-style port, this was a port standard designed and used exclusively in Australia,’ they added.
Did you have this type of phone connector in your home? How long have you used them? We’d love your stories in the comments below!
What was the question about? Well, it involved an obscure wall attachment in their property.
The homebuyer shared the beige-coloured contraption, which they had just spotted in his new home, on social media.
They asked, 'What is this? Have never seen this type of connection in my life. Can anyone enlighten me as to the use of this?'
A first-time homebuyer asked on social media what this wall attachment is. Credit: Reddit
The comment thread soon became flooded with responses and expressed their disbelief.
'That's it. I'm dead. This is no criticism of you—more of feeling geriatric,' one exasperated user commented.
An Aussie humorously exclaimed, 'I am outraged that I'm being made to feel so ancient. I will write a telegram to the Postmaster-General to complain.’
'[Homebuyer] just made a whole generation feel old. Thanks, hope you are happy.'
But one user kindly explained, ‘It's a phone connection for the old landline.’
‘The phone itself had a plug that fitted in it. They were decommissioned as NBN rolled through.’
The device has the Telecom logo, bringing nostalgia back to a generation before the country’s main telecommunications operator evolved into Telstra.
A spokesperson for Telstra said that the company had 316,000 active home and business landlines across the country as of June this year.
They said this number was in millions three decades ago because ‘almost all homes in the early '90s had a landline phone connection" before households began ditching landlines for mobile phones.’
The spokesperson added while the company no longer sells old-style connectors, they can still provide customers with a ‘handy little adaptor’ to convert their devices if they wish to access the network directly via the original ports.
The spokesperson also provided an informative diagram to illustrate how the adaptors work:
Telstra showed a diagram of how adaptors work. Credit: Telstra
‘Also, a little fun fact about that particular old-style port, this was a port standard designed and used exclusively in Australia,’ they added.
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