AT&T 1740 Digital Answering Machine System
There was once a time when people not only had to carry on conversations by talking into a telephone, but liked doing it, and wanted to know when one of these phone call opportunities was missed. The solution was an answering machine, a physical box that sat in your home and answered calls when no one was home. Instead of carrying on a conversation, it gave callers a brief window to plead their case for reciprocated communications. The technology has been replaced several times over at this point, but for $14, if you know someone who still uses a landline (parents come to mind), this very well may be a welcomed gift.
