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The name "Rabbit" almost got genericized - I heard DECT phones being referred to as "rabbit phones" just this year. DECT in general (the successor to CT-2 whic

The name "Rabbit" almost got genericized - I heard DECT phones being referred to as "rabbit phones" just this year. DECT in general (the successor to CT-2 which Rabbit used) is still going strong, though in some bubbles people are shocked to hear anyone uses anything other than a mobile phone.

closewith 3y ago
I think that's because rabbit was slang for antennae in general, due to rabbit-ears TV antennae.
- orangewindies 3y ago
  Isn't the term "rabbit ears" more of an American thing? Can't recall anyone using it in the UK.
  - DonHopkins 3y ago
    It was a missed branding opportunity to make the Rabbit mobile phone with a pair of rabbit ears antenna.
  - closewith 3y ago
    Not sure about the UK, but was common in Ireland.
- fredoralive 3y ago
  I think the Rabbit name was chosen more because rabbit can be used as slang for talk and chatter, you might say some people were “rabitting away together” and so on if they were conversing at length[1]. In the UK most portable TVs used halo type antennas for reception AFAIk, this might be related to the UK only using UHF for 625 line colour TV (and digital)[2] whilst the US also uses VHF. The main living room TV was / is usually fed from a roof mounted yagi antenna though. [1] Just don’t use the phase “at it like rabbits” to mean conversations. Unless you mean Ugandan discussions… [2] VHF was used for the old 405 line system, which was turned off in the ‘80s.
  - Steve44 3y ago
    > I think the Rabbit name was chosen more because rabbit can be used as slang for talk and chatter There was a 1981 song in the UK by Chas & Dave called Rabbit which was about people endlessly rabbiting on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGNojF9qKS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGNojF9qKS0 edit as I see this has been posted further down.
arlcode 3y ago
The only time I come into contact with DECT is during the yearly CCC hacker congress in Germany. And of course I bring an old phone just for the fun of it.
- wongarsu 3y ago
  Approximately everyone over 50 in Germany uses a landline phone when at home, and of those just about all use DECT.
- nottorp 3y ago
  I have one or two DECT phones but no landline for them any more. The last 'landline' was going out over the fiber anyway and was some kind of emulation. The router had a phone jack to plug an old school phone in.
- shmeeed 3y ago
  Back when it was at the BCC, I remember when they used to tell you to Absolutely Not buy one at Media Markt over across Alexanderplatz and just return it after the Congress. Phun times.
- mbirth 3y ago
  In Germany, many people love routers from AVM called “Fritz!Box”. They all can act as a DECT base station to use with either normal landline or Internet telephony. AVM also has a line up of smart home devices based on the DECT standard that work in conjunction with their routers.
devilbunny 3y ago
DECT still has its uses. I've encouraged more than a few people to buy multi-handset base units that have Bluetooth built in for elderly parents (mine is Panasonic; they call it Link2Cell). Leave cell phone in kitchen (or wherever base is) to charge, carry a DECT handset on you at all times. If you fall and break a hip, you're never without a phone. It can make and receive calls from two different cellphones.
- stavros 3y ago
  Hm, I don't understand, why not just carry the cell phone directly?
  - devilbunny 3y ago
    Eventually, you will have to charge it.
    - stavros 3y ago
      Do elderly people find that hard? My parents haven't had any trouble with it.
      - devilbunny 3y ago
        The point is that if you are frail, you should always have a phone on you no matter how short the distance is.
        stavros 3y ago
        But you also need to charge the DECT phone.
        HocusLocus 3y ago
        Obvious: Go ahead, state me!
IshKebab 3y ago
Bubbles like most of the world?
Doxin 3y ago
> DECT in general (the successor to CT-2 which Rabbit used) is still going strong, though in some bubbles people are shocked to hear anyone uses anything other than a mobile phone. A lot of modern baby monitors use DECT. Works much better than the old timey one-way radio type too, You'll get alerted if the connection drops, and on a lot of models you even get two-way communication.

closewith 3y ago

I think that's because rabbit was slang for antennae in general, due to rabbit-ears TV antennae.

orangewindies 3y ago
Isn't the term "rabbit ears" more of an American thing? Can't recall anyone using it in the UK.
- DonHopkins 3y ago
  It was a missed branding opportunity to make the Rabbit mobile phone with a pair of rabbit ears antenna.
- closewith 3y ago
  Not sure about the UK, but was common in Ireland.
fredoralive 3y ago
I think the Rabbit name was chosen more because rabbit can be used as slang for talk and chatter, you might say some people were “rabitting away together” and so on if they were conversing at length[1]. In the UK most portable TVs used halo type antennas for reception AFAIk, this might be related to the UK only using UHF for 625 line colour TV (and digital)[2] whilst the US also uses VHF. The main living room TV was / is usually fed from a roof mounted yagi antenna though. [1] Just don’t use the phase “at it like rabbits” to mean conversations. Unless you mean Ugandan discussions… [2] VHF was used for the old 405 line system, which was turned off in the ‘80s.
- Steve44 3y ago
  > I think the Rabbit name was chosen more because rabbit can be used as slang for talk and chatter There was a 1981 song in the UK by Chas & Dave called Rabbit which was about people endlessly rabbiting on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGNojF9qKS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGNojF9qKS0 edit as I see this has been posted further down.

arlcode 3y ago

The only time I come into contact with DECT is during the yearly CCC hacker congress in Germany. And of course I bring an old phone just for the fun of it.

wongarsu 3y ago
Approximately everyone over 50 in Germany uses a landline phone when at home, and of those just about all use DECT.
nottorp 3y ago
I have one or two DECT phones but no landline for them any more. The last 'landline' was going out over the fiber anyway and was some kind of emulation. The router had a phone jack to plug an old school phone in.
shmeeed 3y ago
Back when it was at the BCC, I remember when they used to tell you to Absolutely Not buy one at Media Markt over across Alexanderplatz and just return it after the Congress. Phun times.
mbirth 3y ago
In Germany, many people love routers from AVM called “Fritz!Box”. They all can act as a DECT base station to use with either normal landline or Internet telephony. AVM also has a line up of smart home devices based on the DECT standard that work in conjunction with their routers.

devilbunny 3y ago

DECT still has its uses. I've encouraged more than a few people to buy multi-handset base units that have Bluetooth built in for elderly parents (mine is Panasonic; they call it Link2Cell). Leave cell phone in kitchen (or wherever base is) to charge, carry a DECT handset on you at all times. If you fall and break a hip, you're never without a phone. It can make and receive calls from two different cellphones.

stavros 3y ago
Hm, I don't understand, why not just carry the cell phone directly?
- devilbunny 3y ago
  Eventually, you will have to charge it.
  - stavros 3y ago
    Do elderly people find that hard? My parents haven't had any trouble with it.
    - devilbunny 3y ago
      The point is that if you are frail, you should always have a phone on you no matter how short the distance is.
      - stavros 3y ago
        But you also need to charge the DECT phone.
        HocusLocus 3y ago
        Obvious: Go ahead, state me!

IshKebab 3y ago

Bubbles like most of the world?

Doxin 3y ago

> DECT in general (the successor to CT-2 which Rabbit used) is still going strong, though in some bubbles people are shocked to hear anyone uses anything other than a mobile phone. A lot of modern baby monitors use DECT. Works much better than the old timey one-way radio type too, You'll get alerted if the connection drops, and on a lot of models you even get two-way communication.