An Internet Phone Goes Where Pay Phones Take the Real Hits
…it may look to passers-by like a castoff prop from a science fiction movie.

But it is not an imaginary device from the future; it is real. And starting today, anyone with a quarter will be able to try out what is being called the nation's first outdoor Internet pay phone, on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and West 46th Street.

Whether it will succeed in a city where heavily armored pay phones often become victims of foul play remains to be seen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/10/technology/10PHON.html?todaysheadlines&pagewanted=all