Before smartphones and iPads, before the Internet or the personal computer, a misfit group of technophiles, blind teenagers, hippies, and outlaws figured out how to hack the world's largest machine: the telephone system.

Lapsley will trace the birth of the telephone, the rise of AT&T's US monopoly, the discovery of the Achilles heel in Ma Bell's network, and the advent of the kids and outlaws—the "phone phreaks"—who hacked the telephone network for fun and profit in the 1960s and 1970s. He will conclude with some lessons identified (if not actually learned!) relevant to today.

(Please note: this talk focused on phone phreaking in the United States, not the United Kingdoom!)

https://explodingthephone.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Lapsley

https://www.joybubblesthemovie.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PmkUPBhL4U