This is a wall on Sansom Street in Philadelphia near 16th Street. Do you see the small holes between the two large windows in this photo? Back in 1999 during the height of the first dot-com boom, a company named Popi installed a pay phone here. It was no ordinary pay phone. You could make calls for free but the catch was that you had … Continue reading “Popi” Was Here
Since Septa is on the verge of introducing their new fare technology, Septa Key, to the Regional Rail system, I thought this would be a good opportunity to reminisce about one of their earlier automated fare systems. In the early 1990s, Septa provided orange refrigerator-sized ticket vending machines at most Regional Rail stations. I scoured the web for a picture of one of these hulking … Continue reading Anticipating Septa Key
I remember when this sign was posted in the fall of 1989, visible from the SEPTA commuter train window whenever I rode by. I was in college then, taking the train from Philadelphia to the suburbs every few months. It seemed strange to me that someone would go through the trouble to print a sign announcing that a gate was going to be locked on … Continue reading Temporarily Permanent
Nam Jun Paik (1932 – 2006) was an artist who used video displays and electronic parts in his art to comment on technology, culture, and mass communications. In 1990, the builders of One Franklin Town Apartments in downtown Philadelphia chose Paik to fulfill their city mandated requirement of including original public art in their development project. The installation that Paik created consists of three rows … Continue reading Video Arbor is Back
