Rotary Phones Make Absolutely No Sense to Today’s Kids

Want to feel really old? Try watching a group of kids react with utter confusion when an old-school rotary phone is placed in front of them. That’s precisely what the Fine Brothers did in their “Kids React to Rotary Phones” video, which explores how archaic technology can become after one or two generations.

Terms like “busy signal” and “long-distance calling” are completely foreign to the kids, and they struggle to understand how to dial a number with the rotary device.

But perhaps most hilarious is when the host asks the kids how they would send a text message, and one kid assumes that numbers dialed on the rotary phone are somehow translated into Morse code.

The most alarming thing to the kids about life before the mobile phone was that you could only reach someone if they were at home when you called.

“You had no texting and no cellphone, which means that the only way you could talk to your friends is if you were at home and they were also at home and if you called each other,” the host said.

“Yikes!” said one young girl.

“What if you got into an emergency?” asked a boy.

“That was probably very difficult for you guys,” another girl said, as though people who used rotary phones were living in prehistoric times.

This video brings lots of laughs, but it also presents educators with an opportunity to educate kids about history, technology and culture all at once.

Watch the video below to learn more.