Sometime in the murky past, I mentioned to you, dear readers, that one of my jobs was fixing sick computer-controlled telephone offices for Ma Bell. These places, it turns out, didn't need windows - they were all electronics, so why give the computers a view?
A little history - this idea came about partly by accident. In an incident back when relays ruled electronic switching, an inadvertently open window admitted some ants, who, when walking across activating relays, were immolated on the spot, turning into formic acid and damaging the equipment.
So, bit by bit, windows were boarded up, and then eliminated. One particular office in NYC that I worked in for awhile was a 20-story windowless building. When working inside this edifice of efficiency, one had NO idea what the weather was like outside. So, the ever clever folks at Bell Labs did some (no doubt lengthy) study and installed a weather advisory system in the hallways: green light for "sunny," yellow for "eh" and red for "lousy."
I kid you not. The best and the brightest in action. Smart, but curmudgeons all. Not even a flashing "Have a Nice Day" sign.
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