25 years ago in technology terms, is equivalent to a couple of lifetimes. This was when cell phones started becoming available in the country. 1994 was also the year democratic South Africa was born. The most popular form of mobile communication at that time was the pager – a foreign piece of equipment to most youngsters today. Practically all reporters working in the media in 1994 used pagers to stay in touch with their newsrooms. And while covering the first democratic elections 25 years ago, one or two of the major international news networks took exception to the constant beeping of pagers during media conferences. John Robbie was alerted to the issue – this is how he tackled it.