--- description: People really love this video of teens failing to figure out a rotary phone in less than four minutes. title: People Love Watching These Teens Struggle to Use Rotary Phone image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19835deab7a621d/6989434abc6cfc6a483e7eb7/rotaryphone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Teens in Hilarious Video Can't Figure Out How to Use a Rotary Telephone for the Life of Them ## Video: How Generation Z Will Change The World [Watch (HLS stream): How Generation Z Will Change The World](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K2BPVddO.m3u8) (4:31)  _Published 2018-04-20. Dr. Jean Twenge, David Stillman, and Jonah Stillman study generations, they offer some predictions for how Gen Z will change the world._ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 15, 2019 2:59 PM CUT  A vintage rotary dial telephone for sale at a flea market in the Chelsea district of New York City. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images) A vintage rotary dial telephone for sale at a flea market in the Chelsea district of New York City. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)Robert Alexander—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 15, 2019 2:59 PM CUT Two brave teens recently endeavored to achieve the impossible: master a rotary phone in four minutes. Possibly for the laughs and to mark the passage of time, Kevin Bumstead shared the [video that documents](http://time.com/5502447/snoop-dogg-hockey-game/ "undefined") his son Jake and nephew Kyle on their journey to the conclusion that trying to make a call on a rotary phone is a puzzling experience. In a [video](http://time.com/5502447/snoop-dogg-hockey-game/ "undefined") that has racked up 23 million times on Facebook, we begin to understand that phoning a friend the old fashioned way was no easy task for this pair. “Are we supposed to pick up the phone and then do it?” Kyle wonders during the popular clip. Yes, Kyle. Lifting up the receiver, it turns out, is an important start. A dial tone? Apparently, a totally new phenomenon to these two teens. They eventually figured it all out, but it was too late. Bumstead said he hatched the video challenge plan after seeing something similar on YouTube. It’s not a brand new genre. The jokey portrayal of [rotary phone struggles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HyyAlcoUXo "undefined") has really resonated with generations for whom the dial-turning came naturally. And yet these teens deserve credit for their effort, as does the man behind the camera for capturing the struggle, and of course, for making internet sensations out of his family. You can watch the latest viral video of teens using an old phone [here](https://www.facebook.com/kevin.bumstead.5/videos/10211342373829153/ "undefined") or below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5503086/rotary-phone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5503086/rotary-phone/"},"headline":"Teens in Hilarious Video Can't Figure Out How to Use a Rotary Telephone for the Life of Them","datePublished":"2019-01-15T14:59:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:57.744Z","description":"People really love this video of teens failing to figure out a rotary phone in less than four minutes.","url":"https://time.com/5503086/rotary-phone/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19835deab7a621d/6989434abc6cfc6a483e7eb7/rotaryphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19835deab7a621d/6989434abc6cfc6a483e7eb7/rotaryphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New York street scenes","caption":"Teens try rotary phone in viral video","creditText":"Robert Alexander—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5503086/rotary-phone/","name":"Teens in Hilarious Video Can't Figure Out How to Use a Rotary Telephone for the Life of Them"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Generation Z Will Change The World","description":"Dr. Jean Twenge, David Stillman, and Jonah Stillman study generations, they offer some predictions for how Gen Z will change the world.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/K2BPVddO/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-04-20T21:52:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K2BPVddO.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5503086/rotary-phone/","duration":"PT4M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5503086/rotary-phone/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```