Charming teens turn into cold-hearted capitalists playing AT&T phone company simulation

Dan Rubin says:

SimCity and D&D have nothing on "New City Telephone Company," a business simulator that challenged 1970s kids to run a phone company. AT&T commissioned and distributed the game to schools in the mid-1970s, and this film documents two middle and high school classes as they navigate a minefield of disgruntled workers, plaintive investors, and shark-like sales teams.

Don't miss the evil half-smile of the cute redhead as she listens to a pensioner complain about company stock, or the room full of bored faces as the proctor explains in ridiculous detail the proper way to rank goals. If you enjoy watching nascent capitalists eagerly discuss how to get one over on the staff, this is the video for you.

AT&T Tech Channel: New City Telephone Company (Thanks, Paul!)

• [gadgetphile]

  Obviously, this begs the question: what are those kids doing today?

  • [This Guy!]

    *raises the question

    • [abstract_reg]

       *enrages the pedant

• [Ethan]

  My guess is that this no more turns kids into cold-hearted capitalists than most video games turn kids into cold-hearted killers. I suspect that cute redheaded kid understands the difference between simulated and real suffering and would not be smiling if she was really causing pain.

  • [timquinn]

    Because, you know, the world is actually a friendly place full of nice people who would never hurt one another

    • [Ethan]

      Ah, a nice straw man argument–because of course my point was that everyone in the world is nice.

      Or perhaps what I meant was that just as it is possible to enjoy violent video games without actually being a violent person, it is possible to enjoy economic domination games without actually being an asshole.

      • [timquinn]

        I am of the opinion that these nice seeming people are not nice at all but future hedge fund managers with no firm ethical basis and a strong bias for peer approval, just a guess based on my 56 years of knowing people. Violent video games may not make you violent, but they do, apparently, fine tune your thinking to be a smug prick. this is also based on my 56 years of experience of human beings, which has not been all good, admittedly.

        • [Paul Anzel]

          Somehow, timquinn, I managed to survive growing up playing Railroad Tycoon and yet still remain a Progressive. And I felt so good when I managed to bankrupt Jawaharlal Nehru in the India scenario, too…

          There’s much to be said for the use of games as propaganda, in one way or another, but let’s keep things in perspective here.

        • [Martijn Vos]

          I love 18xx style railroad boardgames, and I play them really aggressively, ruining my rivals or their companies whenever I get the chance, or riding along their gravy train while it lasts and sending their stock value down the gutter when it stops.

          But in real life, I have serious reservations about stock market speculation, I think capitalism is inherently dangerous and potentially evil, and I think many markets can only be truly free if they are properly regulated.

          I also love playing the Germans in WW2 games.

• [jwkrk]

  “Put a ’4′ in the triangle opposite the most important goal, a ’3′ in the triangle for the 2nd most important goal, a ’2′ in the 3rd most important and a ’1′ in the least important.”

  So, 4 = 1, 3 = 2, 2 = 3 and 1 = 4.  Certainly no confusion there…

• [Jonathan Badger]

  Of course, in the 1970s, AT&T was hardly a hotbed of capitalism, being a monopoly that didn’t have to worry about getting customers or fighting off competition. Which is why it had time to devote to this (and more charming educational efforts like the CARDIAC).

  • [romaine lettuce]

     Not just a monopoly, a government-created and protected monopoly. The very best kind!

• [catherinecc]

  Surprisingly eloquent for 7th graders.

  Kind of depressing, actually.

• [Boundegar]

  I can’t see the video – I wonder if ATT pulled it down.

• [J. Brad Hicks]

  Wasn’t that sort of the point of “Monopoly” — that it was supposed to teach kids how evil it is to be a capitalist, and got embraced by everybody as a celebration of winning through cut-throat capitalism?

• [jimbo23]

  Video was broken for me too but if you want to see:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXf-nG7nCg0

  What’s with all the censorship today? 1st the Patriots owning rich douche uses his money to pull down his lady’s audition tape and now this?! I’m totally mock-outraged!

• [Dan R]

  Update: Everything looks to be back to normal. Please enjoy the embed above.

  Hi everyone,

  We’re experiencing slight technical difficulties – you can also see the video on the AT&T Tech Channel YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXf-nG7nCg0&feature=plcp