What is POTS?
Have you ever heard the term POTS? If you were born before the 1990s, there’s a good chance it was part of your everyday life. POTS stands for Plain Old Telephone Service, the traditional phone line technology most of us grew up using at home.
From the late 1800s to the 1980s, POTS was the fastest and most common way for people to communicate, long before the internet revolutionized the way we connect. Even today, POTS lines still exist, often hidden in the cables and wires you can see strung over streets and through neighborhoods.
You might remember those classic dial telephones with curly cords. You would plug the phone line into the wall jack, wait for a dial tone, and manually enter the number to connect the call. It was simple, reliable, and a hallmark of communication for decades.
Has Technology Changed?
Interestingly, the core technology behind POTS has not changed much. It is essentially two copper wires twisted together, either running overhead or buried underground, that carry your voice from one home to another. That is it, point A to point B.
For decades, this setup met the basic needs of communication. But in the last thirty years, technology has evolved. The internet and cellular phones have brought unprecedented convenience and more advanced ways to stay connected.
As a result, Plain Old Telephone Service is slowly becoming obsolete. Demand has decreased, costs have risen, and more affordable alternatives like wireless and digital communication have taken over. Businesses, in particular, have moved away from POTS because it cannot support essential needs such as high-speed internet or modern emergency networks.
While POTS holds a nostalgic place in communication history, the world has shifted to faster, smarter, and more versatile solutions.