Back before we called it voicemail, or at least when voicemail meant something different and more specific,

the world had the humble answering machine.

Hi, we're not here right now, but we'll call you back if you leave your name and number.

If you aren't of the age to remember, the answering machine was a physical audio recorder that plugged into your phone line.

Hi, dad, this is there.

You couldn't call into it remotely.

You had to wait till you got home to check your messages.

And they were the source for a lot of Seinfeld gas.

Believe it or not, George, isn't at home, please leave a message at the beep.

Most answering machines recorded on cassette tape.

Your magnetically recorded message would be saved until you recorded over it or changed the cassette.

When I was the little kid, my family had a different kind of answering machine.

It was actually tapeless.

I think it was a Sony, and it was digital.

That's my dad, a man who's not apt to forget a piece of telephone technology.

It was like a little tower with a big push button on top that would blink once you had a message.

In addition to play and shuttle,

it had a record button for your greeting. Hi, this is the H family. We can't come from far right now, so please leave the message after the beep. But on this machine, you could also

record your own messages directly into it.

Like a voice mobile function on your phone.

Note to self.

I think the idea was if you were the husband and wife passing, you know, running kids around

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