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"In 1970 I found little difficulty staying 30 years ahead of the man in the street, and now I find it difficult to stay 18 months ahead of the man on the street."
- Vernor Vinge

Call Notification Unit  
  A small portable device that let you know that you had a phone call at your home.  

As he prepared his bed roll, he was startled by a buzzing noise. Simultaneously, a red light began winking on the small plastic case which hung from his belt. He switched off the buzzer, but the light continued to Blake. He shrugged and put it aside, facedown. it indicated an incoming call at his distant home. He had gotten into the habit of wearing the unit when he was near the place and had forgotten to remove it. he never wore the more elaborate version, however, and so was not equipped to answer the call from here.
Technovelgy from Eye of Cat, by Roger Zelazny.
Published by Pocket Books in 1982
Additional resources -

This book was written in 1982, and it is important to remember that the cell phone really did not exist for most people at that time. This is a creative idea, although it may seem somewhat quaint at this distant remove in time.

Compare to the control face from Idoru by William Gibson.

The time of the novel is roughly in the 22nd century.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Eye of Cat
  More Ideas and Technology by Roger Zelazny
  Tech news articles related to Eye of Cat
  Tech news articles related to works by Roger Zelazny

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