rotary-dial
Pre-pushbutton interface
Rotary-dial describes telephones with a circular numbered dial that users rotate to place calls.
Each digit requires spinning the dial clockwise and releasing it, a slow mechanical process that dominated telephone design until push-button phones replaced them in the late twentieth century.
Now largely nostalgic: My grandmother still has a rotary-dial phone in her hallway.
Arterial blood throb
- handsetHeld telephone component
- receiverOne who accepts transmission
- dialtonePhone's ready signal
- landlineStationary wired telephone
switchboard · operator · exchange · corded · ringing · hook · directory · busy
Quality from past eras
- retroEvoking recent past
- antiqueOld valued collectible
- analogComparable equivalent
- bygoneOf earlier times
classic · memories · heirloom · yesteryear · old-fashioned · relic · sentimental · collectible
pulse
Arterial blood throb
landline · switchboard · operator · exchange · corded · ringing · hook · directory · busy · long-distance
vintage
Quality from past eras
bygone · classic · memories · heirloom · yesteryear · old-fashioned · relic · sentimental · collectible · mid-century
mechanism
Means by which something operates
- springRecoiling metal spiral
- gearsToothed rotating machine parts
- numberingAssigning sequential figures
clicking · tension · detent · pawl · governor · contacts · winding · clockwork · spindle · movement
spinning
Revolving around an axis
rotating · waiting · patience · deliberate
rotary-dialtouch-tone
Button-based phone system
keypad · touchscreen · push-button · voice-activated · speed dial
rotary-dialdigital
Of discrete data
smartphone · modern · touchscreen · wireless · high-tech
rotary, dial, rotate, rotation, rotational, rotor, rotunda, rota, rotator