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This Time Machine Takes You Back to When Phones Were a Shared Experience
This Time Machine Takes You Back to When Phones Were a Shared Experience
Outside St. Louis, on the grounds of an army base that used to train nearly every soldier west of the Mississippi River, is an old building with a new purpose. Inside are hundreds of old and not-so-old telephones on display, from a replica of Alexander Graham Bell's first working phone to the cellphones preceding the smartphones we carry around today.
The Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum is a modest two-story brick building that used to house military officers before it fell into disrepair. It's been completely refurbished by a band of dedicated locals, retirees who all worked at Southwestern Bell, which dominated St. Louis for most of the 20th century as the preeminent phone company in the region. The industry veterans run the gift shop and give tours of the museum's four rooms of phone history.
The telephone museum on Jefferson Barracks Army Base just outside St. Louis.
CNET
My advice: Take the tour. The museum is a window on a time when communication was a communal and almost shared experience -- when families overheard calls to relatives, or people listened to the background noise behind whomever they were calling. Before the automatic telephone exchange (one of which is on display in the museum, in full working order), human operators linked people via switchboards by physically connecting a cord carrying the voice of the person calling to one leading to the recipient. Until direct dialing was adopted, privacy was difficult, explained Carol Johannes, executive director of the museum.
"The operators had the ability to listen in on any and all conversations, as they desired," Johannes told CNET over email. Domestic calls weren't much more discrete. "Many households had 'party lines,' which means they shared their telephone line with other families. People on party lines could listen in on each other's phone calls, so privacy was a little difficult, to say the least."
The Telephone Museum has many old models, including these Western Electric 20 "candlestick" phones and these iconic Western Electric 302 models, with a big base connected via cord to a handset, which rests on top of the base.
CNET
As I stared at rows of phones older than any member of my living family, I realized that, with the exception of the odd hotel room phone, the only phones I've used since graduating high school have been my own personal cell- and smartphones. I'd bet that few people reading this article use a communal phone outside of work anymore. That shift to more personal, intimate conversations, shared via video, text, instant message and, yes, even traditional phone calls, has dramatically transformed our expectations of privacy.
I was fortunate to visit when Johannes, who'd rallied her fellow Bell veterans to refurbish this facility and was instrumental in its creation, was serving as tour guide. As she told me and a few other people about phones from the last century, I noticed a stark difference between the exhibits and the smartphone I was using to take notes and photos: Beyond the obvious technological advances, those old phones were placed in homes and stores, but my smartphone was mine.
It was a surreal realization while surrounded by phones used by dozens, hundreds or thousands of people over their life spans, and while confronted with what that meant for how we connected to each other between the Industrial Revolution and the Information Age.
For instance, Johannes pointed out that candlestick-style phones have a removable mouthpiece, which people would swap out for their own personal one to avoid the spread of droplet-based contagions of the day like diphtheria and polio. She also noted the special chairs with clasps on the back so switchboard operators, who were generally women, could hang up their purses and bags.
But nothing spoke of our transition from communal to personal like color -- because until the 1950s, virtually every phone was black. Telecom companies like Southwestern Bell rented out phones to people and didn't offer color options. Even putting a decorative cover around your home phone was forbidden, as they were telecom property that customers leased, and if a repair technician saw a cover they'd confiscate the whole phone, Johannes said.
Western Electric 500 owners tried to spice up their phones with external covers (right), which Bell frowned on and considered grounds to confiscate phones. The Princess phone (center three) was Western Electric's big push in marketing phones to women, with pastel colors. They were also compact enough to carry into the other room.
CNET
That lasted until the 1950s, when the Western Electric 500 -- a phone so iconic, it's the basis for the phone emoji -- came out in multiple colors. Subsequent decades saw a cornucopia of phones in exciting hues and styles, a liberation from the gadget's pragmatic monochrome beginnings.
New smaller designs appeared, like the ubiquitous Princess phone, which had such a thin base and handset that both together were hardly bigger than a loaf of bread, as well as the avant-garde Ericofon (aka the cobra), which combined handset and dial in a single unit that was perfect for groovy 1960s home design chic. Advances in miniaturization also packed components into phones half as large.
Ericsson's upright Ericofon, aka the cobra phone, was stylish and revolutionary as the first mainstream phone that had a handset and dial in one piece.
CNET
These (relatively) compact phones were easier to carry into other rooms, representing the first steps toward a more private phone communication experience. And they were comparatively affordable. Phonemakers started designing models specifically for the growing teen market. Phones were transforming into products of desire, and by the 1970s, consumers finally broke away from leasing telecom phones and started buying their own, en masse.
In other words, phones started belonging to individuals.
The museum's glass cases held dozens of these dynamically designed phones, some of which I started to recognize -- my family had a touch-tone phone when I was growing up in the early '90s. But the museum's fourth and final room saved the best for last: a wall of novelty phones, which let you dangle a phone receiver on Winnie the Pooh's arm or pull out the front half of R2-D2 when making a call. By the '80s and '90s, people were really making phones their own.
The Telephone Museum's collection includes plenty of novelty phones, which are functioning phones in the shapes of popular characters, including Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Spider-Man, Alvin (of The Chipmunks), R2-D2 and more.
CNET
The other side of that fourth room was filled with early cellphones, and that's where folks who'd been silent for most of the tour lit up with joy. They pointed at Motorola's StarTac flip phones and Nokia candy bar handsets, cooing and laughing. These were the phones they'd carried with them every day, conduits to relationships and jobs long past. And unlike the older rotary and touch-tone phones people remembered from their homes growing up, the cellphones had been theirs and theirs alone.
I haven't relied on a public or even family phone to make a call since I got my BlackBerry Storm in 2009. My smartphone isn't a public utility or communal device, it's a personal sidekick, a Star Trek communicator through which so much of my life flows. We treat phones differently now. If someone asked to use my phone, I'd hesitate, as if someone wanted to borrow a limb.
The museum is full of ways people strived for privacy in the public phone age, from phone booths with doors to the Hush-A-Phone, an accessory looking like a pair of inverted cones, which slipped over phone mouthpieces to quiet what you said into the phone and keep it out of nearby ears. Like the aforementioned color covers, Bell wasn't happy about this add-on and sued to get it banned from use -- but the subsequent 1956 ruling in Hush-A-Phone v. United Statesin favor of the accessory was a watershed moment for individual communication rights. It contributed to the breakup of Bell's monopoly and established the right for individuals to use third-party technology on their end of the phone network -- tech like modems, which paved the way for the modern internet.
The Telephone Museum's collection includes plenty of cell phones, including the original Brick Phone.
CNET
Now we tap that internet on our smartphones to connect with people using a plethora of chat and video apps, many of which are end-to-end encrypted. I have a lot more control over whether I'm overheard, and aside from making calls from my hotel room to the front desk, I won't have to use any but my own phone for the rest of my days.
And in the end, more autonomy over how and when I communicate is for the best. The aforementioned automatic telephone exchange on display in the museum is a good example. When Kansas City, Missouri, undertaker Almon Brown Strowger discovered he was losing business because the operator was redirecting calls to her husband, an undertaking rival, Strowger invented a machine in 1889 to automatically route calls. No human fuss, no interference.
So it's a pleasure to walk in the St. Louis Telephone Museum and look back in time, from a working example of the earliest automated switchboards to the AT&T Picturetel, which debuted at the 1984 World's Fair as the first commercial video phone -- a concept so new it unnerved people who tried it out, Johannes said during the tour. Phones used to be communal gateways connecting people over wires, and now we have our own supercomputers in our pockets stuffed with personal apps and data.
But it's also a reminder that the privacy surrounding our phones is a phenomenon that's only a few decades old, and that our relationship with those mobile devices has radically changed from the early days of Ma Bell.
Maybe that means we're a little too precious about our expensive pocket computers -- a cracked screen can ruin our week -- but having our own window to the world means we get to communicate on our terms. This museum gave me a new appreciation for the level of privacy our little phones afford us, and how such perspectives are lost without preservation.
The Telephone Museum was an all-volunteer effort that started in 2003 and took 17 years, 65,000 person-hours and $250,000 in funding to complete. Here are the group's senior officers, Carol Johannes and Ken Schaper, both retirees of Southwestern Bell.
CNET
"We have children who visit the museum who have never seen a rotary dial telephone, have never heard a "dial tone" or a "busy signal," Johannes said. "They have never called an operator for help in completing a phone call or to check on a loved one. They have never seen a phone booth or a gossip bench.
"Since many people are relinquishing their landlines, more and more vintage telephones are being destroyed, and once they are gone, there's no getting them back."
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How to Prep for Hurricanes, Wildfires, Storms and Other Natural Disasters
How to Prep for Hurricanes, Wildfires, Storms and Other Natural Disasters
Wildfire season has already wiped out more than 5 million acres of land in the US so far this year. With a report of heightened risks of blackouts throughout large parts of the country this summer -- and climate change introducing more frequent and more severe storms -- we wanted to provide an overview of the most common natural disasters in the US.
Here we'll detail what weather events are most likely to occur, as well as when and where. We'll also share resources on how to prepare for a major climate event and what to do in the aftermath of one.
Keep in mind that due to the shifting severity of the climate crisis, the "season" for some of these disasters is also evolving. Wildfire season used to generally take place between May and October, but in recent years devastating fires have occurred late in the year and early before the "official" season has begun.
Use this information as a general guide so you can plan ahead where you live -- and know what to expect if you travel to another region in the US during a natural disaster season.
Common natural disasters
Let's explore the most frequent natural disasters in the US, when their seasons typically take place and where they occur. Again, keep in mind that these events can happen at any time of year, but are most active during a particular season. We'll also link to resources detailing how to prepare for one of these weather events, and what to do if one affects your home.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes, also knowns as tropical cyclones, have slightly different seasons in the US depending on the region, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On the Atlantic coast, hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. Eastern Pacific hurricane season lasts a little longer, starting on May 15 and continuing through November. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report predicts this year's Atlantic season will experience above-average hurricane activity.
Read about how to prepare for hurricane season in this guide.
Floods
Flooding is the most frequent natural disaster in the US, according to Ready.gov, and isn't limited to a particular area or region of the country. Similarly, floods don't take place during a particular season, as rain and snow events can lead to a sudden overflow of water at any time. Flash floods are projected to worsen this century due to climate change, based on an April study published in Nature.
Learn how to protect your home from water damage in our flood prevention checklist.
Tornadoes
In the US, tornadoes are most likely to occur in the Southeast and Midwest regions. While there's no set tornado season, the majority take place in the spring and summer, with May being the most active month for tornadoes.
Find out how to use your phone to stay safe during a tornado or other natural disaster.
Wildfires
Wildfires mainly affect the western US, where drought conditions increase the risk. This year, though, we've already had wildfires in states like New Hampshire and Arkansas. New Mexico has been particularly hard-hit this year, with over 600,000 acres lost to wildfires so far. Most wildfires happen between May and October, but have experienced more earlier and later in the season in recent years.
There are a lot of steps you can take to protect your home if you live in an area prone to wildfires. Start with our comprehensive guide on how to prepare for wildfire season.
Droughts
Large parts of the western US are currently experiencing drought. The US Drought Monitor lists many of those areas as "severe," "extreme" or "exceptional," with exceptional being the most serious level of drought. The drought conditions in the southwestern US are the worst in over 1,200 years, according to a study by UCLA. Satellite images of Arizona and Utah's Lake Powell show clear signs of the lake's decreasing water levels over time.
Read more about the drought affecting the West, including the current conditions and how to track them to stay up to date.
Earthquakes
Earthquakes can happen during any time of the year and most take place in an area known as the "Ring of Fire," according to the US Geological Survey. This area extends well beyond the US, but encompasses the entire West Coast all the way to Alaska. Most US earthquakes occur in Alaska and California.
Check out our earthquake preparedness guide to learn more about how to stay safe during an earthquake.
Final thoughts
Shifting weather patterns mean we have to adapt to the increase of storms and other natural events. Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to protect yourself and your home from a natural disaster. Here are some additional resources:
For even more details on natural disasters and how to prepare beforehand or respond after an event takes place, check out Ready.gov.
Best time to trade in your old galaxy car best time to trade in your old laptop best time to trade in your old tv when is the best time to trade in your vehicle best time to trade in forex best time to trade in bmw best time to trade eur/usd best time to buy airline tickets best time to take blood pressure best time to book flights
Best time to trade in your old Galaxy S phones? Right now
Best time to trade in your old Galaxy S phones? Right now
If you've been thinking about trading in an older Samsung Galaxy S device, now is the time to lock in your price.
According to the trade-in site Nextworth, older Samsung Galaxy smartphones are at their peak. But prices are likely to start dropping in the coming weeks. In this edition of Ask Maggie, I talk to a NextWorth executive who explains why the company increased the value it has been paying consumers who trade in older Galaxy S series devices. I also help another reader figure out the best place for trading in her old devices.
Older Galaxy S smartphones increase in value
Dear Maggie,
I'm considering upgrading to the Samsung Galaxy S5. I've been using a Galaxy S3 for the past couple of years. I've heard that it's a good idea to sell old devices before the new one goes on sale. But I wasn't quite ready to commit to the Galaxy S5. Is it too late to sell my Galaxy S3? Will I still get a good price?
Thanks,
Galaxy Lover
Dear Galaxy Lover,
I've got some good news for you. It's not too late to sell your old Galaxy S3 and in fact, you'll probably get top dollar for it if you lock in your price as soon as you can.
Jeff Trachsel, chief marketing officer for Nextworth, said that in the week or so before the launch of the new Samsung S5 , his trade-in Web site actually raised the prices they were paying for older Samsung Galaxy S devices by about 15 percent. He said strong demand for these older models and low inventory of trade-ins on these devices is what has driven the increase in value.
But he warned that the high prices won't last long.
"We're already starting to see demand soften," he said. "And since the release of the Galaxy S5 on April 11, we've seen a big uptick in people coming to the Nextworth site to get quotes on older Galaxy S phones."
What this means for you and the other Galaxy S2, S3, and S4 owners is that you should lock in your quotes as soon as you can before the values start dropping.
So what's going on?
Conventional wisdom suggests that if you're trading in old gadgets it's better to sell sooner rather than later. Just like cars, old gadgets start depreciating almost the moment you take them for a spin around the block. And in general, Trachsel says that still holds true.
"Over time the value of all devices goes down. That is just a function of depreciation," he said. "So holding on to an older device and hoping for an uptick in the price is generally not a good strategy."
Nextworth
He added that what he has seen recently with the older Galaxy S phones is not a common occurrence when it comes to gadget trade-ins.
"I've been at Nextworth for three years," he said. "And I can tell you that it's very rare that prices ever increase."
Indeed, when Nextworth analyzed pricing information over the past couple of years, the company saw some consistent trends. In the four to five months leading up to and following the launch of the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy S4, prices on the older Galaxy S phones declined about 25 percent to 30 percent.
In general, the decline is steepest when a new generation of device is first announced and right after it goes on sale. The same pattern holds true for the Apple iPhone, which is also released on a yearly basis like the Galaxy S series.
Trachsel said the reason why Nextworth decided to raise the price it pays on Galaxy S trade-ins is because the company was seeing higher demand for these devices. At the same time, the inventory was relatively low. He explained that demand isn't just coming from overseas. There has also been strong demand domestically.
"We couldn't keep them in stock," he said. "I think the lower price point of older Galaxy phones is really attractive. People know the Samsung Galaxy brand, but they may not be able to afford a newer model. So they get an older version, much like we've seen people do with the iPhone."
Indeed, Samsung has built a successful brand in the Galaxy S series. Trachsel said Google Android smartphones from other manufacturers do not have the same resale and trade-in value that Samsung Galaxy products get. Samsung has essentially copied Apple's playbook from the yearly product release cycle to the consistent release and branding across carriers. And it's worked. This strategy coupled with an aggressive and expensive marketing campaign has made the Galaxy brand a household name.
All this awareness is good news for Galaxy users who are looking to resell their older phones.
The Bottom Line:
Nextworth's Trachsel says now is the time to sell your old Galaxy S devices. Prices are likely at their peak, and they'll soon start declining in the coming weeks as the market gets flooded with older devices from people trading them in for the new Galaxy S5. There are also some good promotions out there that sweeten the deal further. For instance, Nextworth is offering an extra 10 percent on top of the trade in value. So my advice to you is that if you really want the Galaxy S5, lock in your price today on your old Galaxy S3.
Good luck!
Trade-in sites vs. retailers?
Dear Maggie,
I've been seeing deals in stores like Target and Best Buy to trade in old smartphones. Is this the way to go these days when trading in devices? Or is it better to use one of those trade-in Websites?
Thanks,
Cheryl
Dear Cheryl,
There are pros and cons to trading a device in online as well as trading it in at a retail store.
Pros of in-store trade-ins
Convenience: If you're a regular shopper at Target or there's a Best Buy in your neighborhood, simply taking your device into the store is probably the easiest and most convenient way to trade it in.
Better offer: Retailers tend to offer higher values for some phones, depending on the promotions they're running. For instance, Target is running a promotion right now that guarantees customers get at least $100 on their old devices to put toward the cost of a new Samsung Galaxy S5. The discount coupons must be used the same day to buy the new Galaxy S5, and it can only be used for devices on a two-year contract.
Cons of in-store trade-ins
Payment comes in store credit: Often the payment method for trade-in programs at retailers is store-credit. This is why retailers are often able to offer higher values for certain devices. And the trade-in value may come with strings attached, such as the Target promotion I just mentioned, which requires you use a coupon from your trade-in to buy a new device with a two-year contract.
Pros of online trade-in sites
Cold hard cash: Online sites like Gazelle and Nextworth offer customers cash. And as they say, "Cash is king."
Easy to comparison shop: If you're planning to trade-in your old device online, it's easy to get quotes from multiple Web sites and see which one offers you the best deal. You should always make sure, the trade-in site you're dealing with is reputable. There are lots of sites out there that have gotten poor customers reviews and have been cited by the Better Business Bureau.
Cons of online trade-in sites:
Bait and switch: Sometimes when device owners send in their devices, the price they were quoted online is not the actual price that they will fetch for their device. Even the most reputable firms reserve the right to alter the price they pay for devices if they appear more damaged than what was reported online as part of the price quote process.
Can be less convenient: Sending in a device by mail takes a little bit more effort than going to a store and trading it in. You need to contact the company and wait for an envelope or box to arrive that you can use to send your device to the trade-in company. And then you have to wait for them to receive the package and assess the phone. After all that, they will finally cut you a check.
Lower value: Because online companies offer cash for the device that's traded-in, you may get a lower offer than what's offered in a store. Online trade-in sites don't have the luxury of selling you a another device or some other in-store products. That said, as I mentioned above. You will be getting cash for your old device. And some people may view this as a primary benefit.
The Bottom Line:
At the end of the day, whether you trade-in your old device at a retailer or online depends on the type of consumer you are. If you shop at Target a lot or you're planning to turn around and upgrade to a newer device, an in-store trade-in program may be the way to go. In that instance, store credit is as good as cash. But if you'd rather pocket the cash you earn from the sale of your old devices, then go with an online trade-in site.
I hope this advice was helpful. And good luck!
Ask Maggie is an advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. If you have a question, I'd love to hear from you. Please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put "Ask Maggie" in the subject header. You can also follow me on Facebook on my Ask Maggie page.
Although a 20-year fixed-rate mortgage is a less common choice for a home loan than a 15- or 30-year mortgage, it has some advantages to consider when buying a house. A 20-year mortgage is a home loan you take out that you repay over a 20-year period. It also has a fixed interest rate just like 15- and 30-year mortgages do.
In a rising interest rate environment, a 20-year mortgage has some benefits over a 30-year mortgage. Since it's a shorter loan term you will end up paying a full decade less in interest, which adds up to tens of thousands of dollars in savings.
Here's everything you need to know about what a 20-year mortgage is, how they work and how to find the lowest mortgage rates possible.
What is a 20-year mortgage?
A 20-year mortgage works the same way as 15- and 30-year mortgages, it just has a 20-year term instead. You'll still need to meet all the same criteria and qualify with a lender or bank to be approved for this home loan type.
Comparing a 20-year and 30-year fixed rate mortgage
How does a 20-year home loan stack up to a 30-year mortgage? A 20-year term has the benefit of simply being paid off in a shorter amount of time. You'll have a higher monthly payment for two decades, but save yourself 10 years of interest on your loan.
Comparing a 20-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgage
While similar to a 15-year mortgage, with a 20-year mortgage, you'll have lower monthly payments, but pay five additional years in interest. What length mortgage you choose will depend in part on how high of a payment you can afford. A 20-year mortgage may be a good compromise if you can't afford the monthly payment for a 15-year mortgage, but don't want to stretch your loan terms out to 30 years.
No matter what term length you choose for a mortgage, it's important to do your research and interview numerous lenders before committing to one. This will help you find the lowest rate and fees available for your personal financial situation. The more lenders you talk to, the greater your chances of finding a lower rate. Even half a percentage point can make a big difference in the amount of interest you pay over the life of your mortgage.
20-year fixed mortgage trends
Right now, 20-year fixed-rate mortgage rates are hovering in the mid to upper 5% range, according to Bankrate, which is owned by the same parent company as CNET. Mortgage rates were at their highest levels in 14 years earlier this year, and have been consistently climbing since January when rates were still historically low and closer to 3%.
Depending on what happens with inflation, mortgage rates may remain relatively flat or they could keep increasing. The Federal Reserve is likely to continue raising rates over the course of the year, as economic conditions like inflation continuing to put additional pressure on rates. If you're considering buying a home, it's likely that mortgage rates are currently lower than they will be by the end of 2022. This means it could make sense to buy a home now, rather than waiting.
You can use CNET's mortgage calculator to figure out how much a difference in interest rates will cost you for your mortgage.
Current mortgage and refinance rates
We use information collected by Bankrate to track daily mortgage rate trends. The above table summarizes the average rates offered by lenders across the country.
Pros of a 20-year fixed-rate mortgage
Here are some key benefits a 20-year home loan offers over standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgages:
Save money on interest: You will save thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan compared to a 30-year mortgage.
Pay off loan faster: You will pay off your mortgage 10 years earlier than the most common type of mortgage, which is a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, as well as building up equity in your home faster.
Cons of a 20-year fixed-rate mortgage
And here are some reasons why a 20-year mortgage may not make as much sense as a 30-year home loan.
Higher monthly payments: You have to be able to afford the monthly payments on a 20-year mortgage, which will be higher than a 30-year mortgage and may eat into your monthly budget.
How do you qualify for a 20-year fixed-rate mortgage?
You apply for a 20-year mortgage the same way you do for other types of mortgages. You must qualify with a lender or bank who is willing to lend you the money. The lender will take into account almost every aspect of your financial life to determine whether or not you can pay back the loan -- you'll submit financial documents like tax returns and pay stubs to apply for a home loan.
Information like your credit score, your income, how much debt you're carrying and your loan-to-value ratio all affect the rate a lender will offer you.
Other mortgage tools and resources
You can use CNET's mortgage calculator to help you determine how much house you can afford. CNET's mortgage calculator takes into account things like your monthly income, expenses and debt payments to give you an idea of what you can manage financially. Your mortgage rate will depend in part on those income factors, as well as your credit score and the ZIP code where you're looking to buy a house.
The Great Resignation Hasn't Hit School Teachers Yet. Here's Why It Still Might
The Great Resignation Hasn't Hit School Teachers Yet. Here's Why It Still Might
It took just a simple question for Andria Nelson to grasp how different the world of education was from everything else. Nelson had quit her teaching job just months into the 2020-21 school year and taken a job as a communications specialist for a transportation company. Her innocent request -- seeking someone to cover for her so she could go to the bathroom -- raised some amused eyebrows around the office.
"People in that office laughed at me because I asked permission for everything," said Nelson over Zoom. "I couldn't believe what it was like working in an office from being a teacher."
Nelson's story is a familiar one. She fell in love with teaching as a special education associate back in 2012, leading her to pursue a teacher's certification. By the fall of 2020, she'd spent more than seven years teaching language arts to middle school students. Along the way, she'd also coached girls soccer, cross-country and track. She was teaching accelerated English and global studies with a teacher partner and had seemingly found her calling.
Then things began to change. For every education professional, the way working as a teacher goes from dream job to recurring nightmare looks different. For Nelson, it was the anxiety of coming back to in-person teaching during the pandemic while having an autoimmune disease, being harassed by another teacher and not getting help from the school administration.
In November 2020, Nelson quit. "My mental health is not OK," she told her principal, "and now I'm starting to lose my physical health."
Nelson's departure illustrates the compounding complications of the COVID-19 era, which are taking a massive toll on teachers nationwide. But the coronavirus is just the latest crack in a system badly in need of an overhaul. Teachers were already burning out amid ever-increasing demands to do more, with little support and with stagnating salary increases. Every year, fewer people are choosing to join a profession that's hardly evolved in 50 years, and vacancies are on the rise.
Now the Great Resignation has many fearing a mass exodus out of the teaching ranks. Experts argue, however, that there isn't yet empirical evidence that teachers are quitting in record numbers. Still, even the most skeptical admit that the possibility of seeing an unprecedented wave of teacher resignations before this school year ends or the next one starts has never felt more real. And the potential consequences for students, schools, families and the country as a whole couldn't be more serious.
"Teacher resignations pose an incredible challenge to public schools," said Anne Claire Tejtel Nornhold, a former middle school teacher who's now in charge of implementing a new classroom structure at Baltimore City Schools, known as Opportunity Culture, in an effort to increase teacher retention.
When a teacher quits, she noted, students end up being taught by less experienced teachers, which may result in kids learning less. Parents frustrated by the erosion of the learning environment, she added, may consider private school or homeschooling instead.
"We do know from rigorous empirical evidence that disruptions from teacher turnover have a negative effect on student test scores," added Dan Goldhaber, director of the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research, aka CALDER, at the University of Washington. "And that test scores are predictive of a variety of later life outcomes, like the probability of employment and labor market earnings."
At stake is also the emotional and educational recovery of an entire generation of students who've had to endure the pandemic from a unique perspective, switching back and forth between in-person and remote learning, navigating mask mandates and the politics associated with them, dealing with uncertainty about vaccines -- or lack thereof -- all on top of worrying about their own academic future.
Failing to modernize the teaching profession could make it even harder to attract a new generation of talented individuals into the classroom, said Brent Maddin, executive director of the Next Education Workforce Initiative at Arizona State University, a national organization devoted to innovation in the field of teaching. "Who wants to join the profession typified by the headlines of the last few weeks?"
When teacher resignations go viral
Following the reaction of her new co-workers to the quirks formed by her prior life as a teacher, Nelson posted a video on TikTok with the caption, "When teachers change careers," along with hashtags like #teachersoftiktok, #leavingteaching and #mentalhealthmatters. In the video, you can see Nelson at her desk pretending to ask her manager who she needs to contact if she has to take a bathroom break.
"I can just go?" Nelson says in disbelief. The video, posted in September, went viral and has since accumulated more than 1.1 million views and been shared more than 15,000 times. Nelson's TikTok post became part of a trend of teachers posting similar videos of themselves quitting their jobs, which spilled over into the news.
"Teacher's TikTok goes viral after telling class she's quitting due to pay," reported local TV station KRQE in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "For some teachers, it's QuitTok, not TikTok," said local Salt Lake City station 2KUTV.
More recently, news reports about teacher resignations have seemed to go beyond anecdotal social media posts to suggest a larger, more worrisome trend. The demand for more qualified teachers was already there. A 2016 study by the Learning Policy Institute projected that by 2020, an estimated 300,000 new teachers would be needed per year, and that by 2025, that number would increase to 316,000 annually.
COVID only made things worse. A survey published in early February by the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, found that more than half its members intend to leave education sooner than planned because of the pandemic -- "a significant increase from 37% in August," the association said.
Beyond the TikTok viral videos and the agonizing news headlines, there seemed to be enough evidence to express real concern about a looming tsunami of teacher shortages and resignations threatening to disrupt the school year even further than the numerous waves of coronavirus variants already had.
"I don't know how much longer we will have teachers who will put up with the pressures coming from all different angles," J.M., a middle school teacher from Austin, Texas, who's been teaching for 11 years, said in an email. (She asked CNET to withhold her full name because she didn't want to compromise her position at school.) "I am at a 'steady' school (one where academic success is high and behavior is mostly under control), and I hear of lots of teachers here who are ready to walk off the job at any given moment."
"People are ignoring the news that is making headlines already," said J.J., another middle school teacher from Austin, who's been teaching Spanish at the high school and middle school levels since 2006 and recently began to consider leaving the profession. (She too asked that CNET withhold her full name.) "Teacher burnout has become even more real since the pandemic began."
A teacher interacts with students virtually while sitting in an empty classroom during a period of nontraditional instruction at an elementary school in Kentucky.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images
In a December letter, US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urged school administrators across the country to "use resources from the $122 billion made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to ensure that students have access to the teachers and other critical staff they need to support their success during this critical period." He cited surveys that showed severe staffing shortages and difficulties hiring qualified teachers.
A big reason? It comes down to money.
Why teachers want to quit
When I asked one teacher who left her job before the holiday break, and three others who are considering quitting, about their motivations, each mentioned several different reasons. Money was the one common factor.
"The salary and level of appreciation are much lower than what we deserve," said J.M., one of the Austin schoolteachers. "Last year, the year we were teaching online, I ended up teaching four extra classes from February through May. I was compensated for only one of those."
A 2016 national survey of first-year college students conducted by UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program found that just 4.2% of them intended to major in education, down from 11% in 2000 -- and the lowest point in 45 years.
"Salary is one huge part of it," Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact, a nonprofit organization working with school districts to improve education for low-income and other underserved students, said over Zoom. If teacher pay had kept up with the increase in education spending over the last 50 years, he explains in one of his studies, the average annual teacher pay would be nearly $140,000 today. Instead, the national average annual teacher salary in the 2019-20 school year was just more than $63,000, according to the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
"[Teacher] wages have been relatively flat as compared with professions that require similar levels of expertise, certification and education," Jess Gartner, a former school teacher and CEO of Allovue, a technology company that builds solutions for K-12 finance, said over Zoom. "Overall, teacher compensation has actually increased, but the majority of the increase is going into either pension or health care benefits. Costs have risen so dramatically they've effectively depressed real wages that teachers are seeing in their paycheck."
"After having to pay more bills with a growing family, I have become more aware of how little I make in comparison to others while I have more educational background than many," said J.J., the middle school teacher from Austin, who has a master's degree.
According to the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, by the school year 2017-18, almost 60% of all teachers across the country had a post-baccalaureate degree. And with over 3.5 million teachers in the country, teaching "is far and away the largest single profession in America that requires a bachelor's degree," David Rosenberg, partner at Education Resource Strategies, said over Zoom. ERS is a national nonprofit that helps school leaders think about using their resources differently and reimagine the job of teaching.
But it's not just teacher salaries that have failed to keep up for years. "We've been demanding more of teachers through all that time," said Hassel. "Standards are higher" these days.
Nelson, one of the teachers whose videos went viral on TikTok, said she had a student in her seventh-grade class who read at a second-grade level, while also having other students in the same class who were reading at a post-high school level. "When you have 36 students in a room, it's incredibly difficult to help a second-grade-level reader."
Over time, as a country, and particularly at the state level, we've also tightened up the rules for entering the teaching profession, according to Chad Aldeman, policy director of Edunomics, a center at Georgetown University focused on the study of education finance. "It's been all with good intentions, raising the bar to become a teacher," Aldeman said over email. "But that means there are more subspecialty areas to earn licenses, more requirements to become a teacher than there used to be."
All these efforts have had unintended negative consequences, Maddin said over email, rendering the teacher's job "quite frankly, untenable... one that people are more likely to run from than to."
But it's not only the lack of salary competitiveness versus increased expectations that keeps the teaching profession anchored in the past. It's the nature of the job itself.
A profession that hasn't evolved in decades
Over the last century, the way we communicate with each other and how we consume media and live our lives has been dramatically transformed. Yet teaching has largely remained unchanged.
"The majority of children in the US learn in schools that replicate the dominant industrial model of education that was designed over 100 years ago to prepare most children to work in farm and factory jobs," Jenee Henry Wood, head of learning at Transcend, a national nonprofit helping schools reimagine education models, said in an email.
In almost every other profession that requires a degree, people have the opportunity to learn on the job, take on more responsibility, advance and earn more money. That's not the case with teachers. "In teaching, you pretty much have the same job for your whole career," Public Impact's Hassel said. "Unless you become a principal or leave altogether... there's not a lot of advancement opportunity."
Most school districts and schools in the country keep operating under the traditional one-teacher, one-classroom staffing model, several experts said, which not only creates an isolating and challenging experience for most teachers, but is also a recipe for disaster when something unexpected happens -- like a pandemic.
The traditional school model "creates 3.5 million points of possible crisis [across the country] each day if individual educators don't show up for work," Maddin said.
As multiple schools across the country could attest in recent months, the pervasiveness of the one-teacher, one-classroom model exacerbates staffing issues in an emergency. "There's no backup or support system," said Aldeman.
But the challenges presented by the traditional staffing model aren't just logistical. They may also be holding both teachers and students back.
Fourth graders in Pennsylvania.
Getty Images
For students, the old model means, "They'll only experience excellent teaching in a subject once every few years," said Hassel from Public Impact. "It makes great teaching a scarce resource that only a select fraction of students receive." For educators, he added, it "severely limits the opportunity to learn on the job from peers, or advance in their career and earn more while continuing to teach."
The way the teaching profession is structured right now, Rosenberg from ERS said, requires teachers to be heroes. "We have to structure the work so people can be successful," he said.
"Teacher shortages will only continue to get worse until we fundamentally redesign our school staffing models," said Maddin. "We don't have just a teacher shortage problem. We have a workforce design problem."
Bringing a reset to the role of teachers
A number of initiatives across the country are helping schools reimagine how teachers work. Public Impact's Opportunity Culture initiative is one of them. "Teachers join small teams, three to eight teachers, led by a multi-classroom leader, a teacher who has prior high student growth and takes on the leadership of that whole team," Hassel said.
These teachers get more support than they normally would in a traditional model where they're working mostly by themselves with their 20 or 30 kids. "They're working as a team and they're getting better results," Hassel said. Public Impact's research found that the multiclassroom leader's student growth -- their ability to score higher in tests -- can jump from the 50th percentile to above the 70th percentile.
Team leaders earn, on average, between 12% and 20% above their normal salary, Hassel said. About 50 school districts around the country have embraced Opportunity Culture's model, and 90% of participant schools in the program are Title I, meaning they serve low-income communities.
ASU's Next Education Workforce Initiative is another example. Its program consists of building teams of educators to deliver deeper and personalized learning for pools of kids larger than those in the traditional classroom staffing model.
"Imagine you have four teachers with 100 kids, collectively responsible for all those kids," Next Education Executive Director Maddin said. "Like literally every other profession, we can now start to allow teachers to develop specialization and expertise. They wouldn't have to be great at everything, but there would be a set of things that they would be exceptionally good at."
Updating the structure of the classroom can also help schools react more effectively to staff shortage emergencies, such as those caused by the pandemic. A team-based approach, Aldeman said, can help the system "continue to function well even if an individual member leaves."
A different approach to salary increases
Beyond modernizing the teaching job, increasing teacher salaries across the board seems an obvious first step to thwart further resignations, and some states, like New Mexico, are already raising pay. Not all the experts I interviewed agree, however. One of the reasons retaining teachers and attracting new ones remains endemically challenging, some argue, is that teacher salaries are basically the same for everyone in most school districts, regardless of area of expertise or teaching environment.
As part of his research, Goldhaber looked into the number of vacancies schools in Washington state have had, going back 30 years. Vacancies for elementary teachers, he found, have always been low while those for STEM and Special Ed teachers have always been very high.
"This pattern exists because teacher pay is not differentiated," Goldhaber said over Zoom. Raising all teacher salaries would help schools draw more talented people into the teaching profession, he argued, "but I also strongly believe that across the board, pay increases do not make sense."
Goldhaber advocates for increasing pay at the beginning of teachers' careers, where retention rates are low, and for people with STEM training. "You're trying to attract people who have been able to do well enough in math and science classes to teach, but those are folks that outside of teaching have good labor market opportunities."
Teaching in California.
Getty Images
School districts usually try to pay special ed, STEM or English learner teachers a little bit more because those professionals are harder to recruit, said Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy at AASA, the School Superintendents Association. But sometimes salary negotiations are constrained by other factors, including union negotiations around salary schedules.
The current teacher shortage dynamic is a magnified version of the dynamic from before, especially at "high poverty schools [and among] high school teachers [in] specialized roles," said ERS' Rosenberg. Staffing for those roles is particularly difficult in "communities where there's already high turnover, which feeds itself because high turnover means you hire early career teachers and they also have high turnover," he said.
That's why Goldhaber would "make it relatively more desirable to teach disadvantaged students, because it's chronically harder to staff disadvantaged schools and districts." A study published in 2019 by ASU found that teacher turnover rates were 50% higher in Title I schools than other schools. Turnover rates among Title I math and science teachers were nearly 70% higher.
The Great Resignation that's coming -- or not
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and parents and school administrators keep bracing for a tide of teacher resignations. So far, however, the available data and expert analysis suggest otherwise.
Last year, ERS conducted a study among six school districts across the country to see how turnover had changed compared with pre-pandemic years. "In all six districts, turnover going into fall 2020 went down," said Rosenberg, one of the authors of the study.
Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics published in the last six months reflected turnover rates in the private sector reaching new highs, leading to talk about the Great Resignation. But "we actually don't have any empirical evidence suggesting that teacher turnover is rising this year," Georgetown's Aldeman said.
In reality, said Goldhaber, there's not a single comprehensive national data set about teacher employment. Besides surveys from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the other source of the best information about teacher attrition is states' administrative databases. "We would only know if people are resigning en masse in the '21-'22 school year next fall," he said over Zoom.
But many experts I interviewed think this time it could be different. The labor market is very tight, and employees have more bargaining power than before. "It's a good time for people who want to leave teaching to leave," the University of Washington's Goldhaber said.
It's tricky because, despite all its problems, teaching can also be rewarding. When I asked the teachers about their reasons to stay, all of them replied with their own version of, "I don't think I will find a more meaningful job than this one" (as Austin teacher J.J. put it in an email).
"The relationships and interactions with my students are what drives my passion for my job and brings me joy," A.C., another teacher from Austin, who's been teaching for about 25 years, said in an email. The pandemic has taken a toll on her. Now "the things about teaching I never thought about start finding real estate in my brain. ... Every other week or so, when I am feeling particularly down and out, I entertain the idea of leaving."
Will she end up joining teachers who are leaving? "Probably not," she replied. "I teach because of the kids. They are not going anywhere so, how can I?"
After eight months at the transportation company, Nelson is teaching again. She's now offering online courses for a tutoring company, and she misses the classroom and her middle school students. "They're the love of my life. I love their stinky little hilarious selves."
Money was never the reason she left. "I was OK with [earning] $55,000 and I loved my job every day and seeing those kids every day. Sure, it'd be great to make $80,000 a year for it, but that's not why I was doing it."
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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What to expect from the housing market in 2022: Another sellers' market
What to expect from the housing market in 2022: Another sellers' market
This story is part of The Year Ahead, CNET's look at how the world will continue to evolve starting in 2022 and beyond.
The last 22 months have been some of the wildest in real estate history, as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the speed and intensity of recent trends. Home prices surged to record-breaking highs. Interest rates dropped to historic lows. And, amongst it all, the new era of online home buying and selling took further root. On top of that, just about every contemporary macro-economic trend -- from inflation to supply chain woes to labor shortages -- made an appearance in the 2021 housing market, increasing the advantages of existing homeowners, daunting prospective homebuyers and, ultimately, further widening wealth inequality in the US.
Though no one can predict what the next year will bring, we've asked some industry experts to help us read the tea leaves. Perhaps most significantly, home prices are expected to continue to rise, though at a slower rate than last year. As such, the 2022 housing market will present challenges for new buyers looking to get a foothold. For those looking to sell, new technologies like iBuying will continue to streamline and simplify real estate transactions. And existing homeowners will likely have another year to capitalize on rising property values through refinancing -- if they haven't already.
Experts also predict an extension of two major 2021 trends: low housing inventory and supply chain issues, both of which will continue to hamstring construction and renovations. Meanwhile, there are two new spectres on the scene: inflation and rising interest rates. "For a homebuyer, 2022 is going to require patience and strategy," said Robert Dietz, chief economist the National Association of Home Builders.
"If you think you're going to wait on the sidelines for the market to cool off, that usually doesn't work," cautions Karan Kaul, senior research associate at the Urban Institute. "Timing" the market is a tricky enterprise, and prices seem unlikely to decrease meaningfully any time soon.
With the caveat that political and virological developments can wreak havoc on this unpredictable corner of the economy, here are some of the major factors experts see influencing the housing market in 2022.
Still smoking: Home prices continue to rise
If you already own a home, you're more than likely to be in a fortunate position. Skyrocketing home values have continued to increase equity for homeowners in many US regions throughout the pandemic, according to Dietz.
Combined with historically low interest rates, a record-breaking number of homeowners were able to tap into their home equity in 2020. As property values surged during the first year of the pandemic, cash-out refinancing levels were at their highest since the 2007 financial crisis.
Of course, this creates a much more difficult situation for prospective homebuyers. And that's unlikely to change much in 2022. Although prices are expected to increase at a lower rate next year, they are expected to continue to rise. And that -- in addition to higher interest rates -- will create considerable headwinds for buyers throughout 2022.
Clogged supply chains cause more delays
Supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to delay shipments which impedes new construction. That is only making the market that much more competitive along with the rising price of existing homes across the US. And the number of people looking to buy is also increasing, thanks in large part to millennials entering the housing market in growing numbers.
"We've seen so much interest in buying homes over the past year and a half, it's a bit difficult to project when that is going to lose some steam," according to Robert Heck, vice president of mortgage at Morty, a mortgage-tech start-up. But it's clear there are still plenty of buyers trying to enter the market despite prices continuing to creep up.
"Despite the fact that builder confidence is pretty strong right now, in the short run there is a lack of building materials, higher cost of building materials like lumber, appliances, windows and doors, and even garage doors," said Dietz. And further complicating the picture is a sustained labor shortage, particularly for skilled construction workers.
Delivery delays can extend build time by as much as four to eight weeks for a typical single family home. And if there aren't enough contractors on hand to use those materials once they show up, it's clear that demand will continue to outweigh supply for some time to come.
Macro headwinds: Interest rates and inflation
Prospective homebuyers will want to keep their eyes on some wonky stuff in 2022. The Federal Reserve announced that it will wind down bond purchasing and look to raise interest rates next year. And higher interest rates will only make things more difficult for those looking to buy, as they raise both the average monthly payment and the total lifetime cost of a mortgage.
And don't forget about inflation! That will almost certainly increase both the cost of home building materials and skilled labor. In fact, the National Association of Realtors' anticipates that annual median home prices will increase by 5.7% in 2022.
And yet it's not all doom and gloom. Mortgage interest remains are still quite low. And there are pockets of affordability in many regions of the US, creating a key opportunity for those fortunate enough to be able to work remotely.
"Mortgage rates are still at historical lows, and it's been harder than ever to predict where things are going thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," said Heck.
Tech innovations reshape home buying
Digital lending has already impacted the way Americans shop for homes. The rapid rise of online real estate brokerages and mortgage marketplaces has made it easier than ever to browse properties and finance a home. That's unlikely to change: Almost 40% of millennials said they would feel comfortable buying a home online in a recent Zillow study.
"Consumers like the ability to bid remotely, and to really take a look at properties and neighborhoods online," said Miriam Moore, division president of default services at ServiceLink, a mortgage transactional services provider. This will likely impact both sides of transactions, as sellers learn to adapt their home's curb appeal to someone looking at it on their phone and buyers (and agents and investors) look for ways to arbitrage the market.
An evolving challenge: Climate change
Perhaps the biggest unknown in real estate is how soon climate change will become the dominant factor. According to experts across the industry, every part of the homebuying process will eventually be affected by changing weather patterns, encroaching shorelines, shifting flood zones and an increasingly complicated insurance marketplace. Case in point: Moore, who is in the mortgage business, has seen an increase in inspections due to weather and fire over the last year.
New construction may prove to be both more energy efficient and more durable in the face of extreme weather. "People want to live in energy efficient homes, but they can only buy them if they exist," said Kaul, at The Urban Institute.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Buying a house remains one of the most reliable ways to build wealth and has long been a key milestone for Americans in establishing long-term financial security. And although interest rates remain as low as ever, given all of the other trends impacting the real estate market in 2022, the balance of power is likely to remain in the hands of sellers.
Fire Phone one year later: Why Amazon's smartphone flamed out
Fire Phone one year later: Why Amazon's smartphone flamed out
There are times when being the first person with a new gadget will elicit cheers and envy -- like outside New York's Fifth Avenue Apple Store, surrounded by applauding salespeople, curious fans and gawking media.
Then there's buying the Amazon Fire Phone.
Marlena Solomon learned first-hand the hazards of being an early adopter when she jumped at the chance to buy Amazon's first-ever smartphone a year ago.
Her excitement quickly turned to frustration after she realized the phone didn't have many of her favorite apps -- including Google Maps and Starbucks -- and she was annoyed at how difficult it was to import her Apple iTunes library. On top of that, instead of marveling at her new gizmo, some people asked, "Why did you buy that?" Three months after she got the device, it went back in its original box and was tucked away at Solomon's home. She went right back to owning an Apple iPhone.
"It's the one time being a first adopter really kicked me in the butt," said Solomon, 45, a marketing specialist for an automotive lubricants company who lives northwest of Houston. "As soon as I put it back in the box and charged up my iPhone, I didn't think about it again."
Marlena Solomon shows off her Fire Phone, which she used for just three months. Courtesy of Marlena Solomon
Solomon's experience is just one of the many negative reactions to the online retailer's smartphone, which first hit the market a year ago this weekend. It became an uncharacteristic and high-profile failure for a top tech company known for thrilling customers and boldly expanding into new markets. The Fire Phone also serves as a warning to other would-be phone makers as proof that the smartphone market is incredibly difficult to break into, and offers lessons on what sort of pitfalls to avoid.
"I think the silver lining, if there is one," Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said, "is that Amazon learned a lot about mobile and that everything they do won't be a success."
It's a far cry from a year ago, when CEO Jeff Bezos took the stage at an event, held in Amazon's hometown of Seattle, that was electrified by the excitement of the super fans the company had invited to sit alongside industry and media folks.
"Can we build a better phone for our most engaged customers? Can we build a phone for Amazon Prime members?" Bezos asked before taking a dramatic pause. "Well, I'm excited to tell you that the answer is yes."
Amazon declined to make any executive available for this story.
It didn't take long for reality to take hold and for the Fire Phone to flame out. Within two months, AT&T dropped the price from $200 to just 99 cents with a two-year contract. (It can be had for $179 without a contract.) Three months after the launch, Amazon took a $170 million charge to wipe out the lost value of its unsold Fire Phones, adding that it still had $83 million in inventory at the end of that period.
But the Fire Phone wasn't a complete bust. For anyone looking to get into the smartphone business, the device offers a few critical lessons.
It's all about price
There are a handful of reasons the Fire Phone flopped, but its starting price proved a major snag and may have turned off many potential customers.
Consumers and analysts were expecting Amazon to follow its familiar playbook of offering a cheap, but good-enough product that could undercut other devices already on the market. That strategy proved a success for Amazon in tablets, as its inexpensive plastic-and-glass Fire devices (originally the Kindle Fire) offered a cheap alternative to Apple's iPad and helped Amazon become a major player in that market four years ago.
Instead, Amazon opted to create a top-shelf smartphone with high-end components that pushed its off-contract price to $650. If you signed a contract, the price dropped to $200.
All of a sudden, it became another flagship smartphone in a market overflowing with similarly priced flagship smartphones.
"That soured a lot of people," IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said of the initial price.
Make the features count
Two of the Fire Phone's differentiating features were 3D graphics, accomplished with the help of four front-facing cameras, and Firefly, a function that allowed people to scan and identify thousands of items, including products, songs and bar codes.
The Fire Phone employs a series of cameras to simulate a 3D screen, changing its image as a user moves the phone. CNET
Neither was a hit with customers.
The 3D effect was at best a party trick. "Nobody cared about that," said Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney.
Firefly, meanwhile, was seen by many as a cynical attempt by Amazon to get Fire Phone users to buy more goods from the e-retailer. But if that was the intent of Firefly, it didn't work, since people tend to browse for products on their phones but typically complete purchases on a laptop or personal computer.
Overall, the Fire Phone was really only effective in differentiating itself in negative ways, Dulaney said.
Don't be different (unless you're Apple)
Amazon's Fire tablets have run off a heavily customized version of the Android operating system software, which meant they didn't have access to key Google apps like Maps or Gmail. So when it came time to make a Fire Phone, Amazon pursued the same strategy.
Turns out, people like those Google apps.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
"There were too many negatives in my mind to keep the Fire Phone or give it a try," Solomon said.
By not embracing the Google-approved version of Android -- which is what Samsung, HTC and most other smartphone makers use -- it offered a third option it called Fire OS. But in this market, if you're not using Apple or Android, customers don't care. As of the first quarter, Apple's worldwide smartphone market share was 18 percent, while Android's was 78 percent, according to IDC.
That leaves the remaining 4 percent for the likes of Microsoft and BlackBerry to fight over.
Having sufficient market share is critical because it spurs developers to build apps and games directly for your platform. David Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of devices, said in an interview a year ago that he hoped to convince developers to come aboard by making its Fire OS a place where they could generate more money from their work. He touted the hundreds of millions of active and engaged Amazon shoppers as another lure.
Exclusivity deals don't work
While Amazon was marketing the Fire Phone to all of its Prime customers, the reality was it could only sell the device to anyone willing to sign up with AT&T. That's because Amazon struck a deal with the carrier in exchange for marketing and retail support -- a move commonly made by lower-profile vendors looking for assistance in building awareness.
But Amazon boasts a strong brand, particularly in the US, where the Fire Phone launched. The company had the benefit of featuring the smartphone on one of the largest online storefronts in the world. So why a deal with AT&T? The carrier got to Amazon early.
"We brought them an early prototype of the phone three years ago, and explained what we were trying to do," Limp had said. "They were unbelievably excited."
AT&T worked to optimize the Fire Phone's features to better run on its cellular network, and promised Amazon the "flagship" spot for the 2014 fall season. Ralph de la Vega, then CEO of AT&T's mobility division, came on stage with Bezos to praise the device: "This is an amazing, breakthrough innovation," he said.
It wasn't amazing enough.
Never again?
Amazon is just one of the companies smarting from its attempt to breach the smartphone business. Facebook attempted to dominate smartphones with its own user interface that wrapped around Android, but it too met with a similar cold reception.
"My view is the phone was largely doomed out of the gate," Baird's Sebastian said of the Fire Phone.
So will there be a sequel Fire Phone? Amazon has long shown a willingness to spend in search of new growth opportunities, from streaming TV shows to delivery drones to cloud-computing centers. But, the company now is signaling to Wall Street that it will work on cutting back its heavy spending. In this scenario, it's not a stretch to imagine that the Fire Phone -- one of the company's biggest flops in years -- won't return.
If there are any plans for a new Fire Phone, Amazon is mum about them. "We have a policy of not commenting on our road map, so can't give you anything there," Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said on the company's quarterly conference call on Thursday. "We obviously do learn from everything we do and value the feedback we get from customers, but nothing to share at this point."
Amazon has clearly gotten over the disappointment. The company on Thursday posted a surprise profit in the second quarter, leading to its share surging 17 percent in after-hours trading.
Back in Texas, Solomon is still unhappy with how things turned out for her. She hasn't gotten around to returning her Fire Phone, so she still has to pay for the hardware every month, with $324.91 still left on her installment plan as of last month.
Solomon said it was unlikely that she would renew the Prime service she got with the phone.
"Honestly," Solomon said, "I would probably not buy another piece of Amazon electronics because of my experience with the Fire Phone."
