When Telstra shut down the Talking Clock, one man took the time to salvage it

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A musician with a penchant for nostalgia and 1990s web design has recreated 'George' the Talking Clock, a service recently unplugged by Telstra after 66 years.

There is a catch. Monro's 'clock' is not a genuine timepiece because its voice relies on the system time of the user's phone, tablet, or computer.But in an age where just about any digital device can display the time, Monro did not want a slice of Australian history to be lost.He recalled the occasions he had used the Talking Clock — usually when he was half-asleep and reached for the landline phone near his bed.

He hopes his creation is allowed to live on, admitting he did not consult Telstra before publishing his website.Clock's demise comes amid tech upgrades, funding cuts A spokesman said an upgrade to network technology and a desire to"transform ourselves into a simpler business" was behind the decision to close the 1194 Talking Clock and the 1196 weather service after 66 years.

In April, the contractor who ran the Talking Clock for Telstra told The Age the service still attracted about two million calls a year.

 

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That must be the talking clock I used to phone up when I was a kid. It would say 'at the third strike it will be 12 o'clock and 30 seconds, etc.' it was a great idea at the time.

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