Maybe technology is cyclical

Category: Internet

Published: 06/25/2008 09:27 a.m.

On episode 106 of 30 Rock (Jack Meets Dennis), Liz's bf Dennis is the Beeper King, the last beeper salesman in NYC. He tries to market his beepers to Liz's co-workers and only Frank wants one (to use as an ironic accessory). Of the many jokes made about the beepers, Dennis tries to explain to Liz that beepers are making a comeback because "technology is cyclical".

On the surface this seems ridiculous, but there may be some truth to it. When sending a page, you had to key in the numbers that would appear on the pager. Usually this was a number to reach you at, but there were attempts to create a language so that useful information (like "pickup milk on your way home") could be conveyed. The receiver would then read this and understand the "code". While this faded out with the rise of the cell phone, it has made a triumphant return in the form of text messages. A text message is just a page that uses letters instead of numbers. It is still keyed in from a phone, and it can still give a buzz or a ding to the receiver, just like a page. The "code" is now things like "C u l8r" and other crap like that. Overall, it is the same concept, just implemented a little differently.

I wonder if the writers of 30 Rock meant to be super-ironic with that line from Dennis. Maybe I am just reading too much into it...