When I was in high school, I got my first personal phone line, and then I got my answering machine. The answering machine became a source of great joy and great pain in one little electronic box. The key to the answering machine was leaving clever outgoing messages that would make the listener think you were one of the funniest people out. The messages became more elaborate as time went on, incorporating movie, TV and music clips, and then some pithy little “think about world hunger” statement at the end. The answering machine was literally like the old school version of the Facebook status page because it had to be constantly updated, taking advantage of the latest piece of pop culture. I was just thinking about it today because I realized I had no idea what the voicemail message is on my cell phone, and my internal 15 year old self let out a primal scream.