sewilco@datapg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) (09/20/88)
One morning last week, WCCO-AM radio ran into trouble in its attempt to
use its daily touch-tone telephone survey to sample Minnesota's view of
the major-party vice presidential candidates. The question posed to
listeners was: Do you favor Lloyd Bentsen or Dan Quayle for veep? To
answer, listeners were instructed to call a number and touch B on their
phones for Bentsen, Q for Quayle. It seemed reasonable enough, but moments
later, the survey was scrapped.
The problem: Touch-tone telephone buttons don't include a Q.
(From Mpls Star Tribune, Sept 19 1988)
Yes, I know some phones around the world have a "Q". This is a USA story.
(Someone earlier mentioned data entry standards as well, although I could not
get E-mail to them to get details)
--
Scot E. Wilcoxon sewilco@DataPg.MN.ORG {amdahl|hpda}!bungia!datapg!sewilco
Data Progress UNIX masts & rigging +1 612-825-2607 uunet!datapg!sewilco
"When Hurricane Gilbert comes through, I'll stay here to experience it."
CBS:"What if you experience death?" "Well, I'll worry about that later."