The history of the answering machine stems at least as far back as the seventeenth century. Blackfoot Indians, in America’s western plains, by means of a slow-burning signal fire, a knowledge of local breezes and a carefully placed branch to interrupt the stream of smoke are known to have been able to leave messages as sophisticated as “White Bear is out on a raiding party at the moment, please leave your message after the plume.”
Ben’s answering machine, “Machine-that-answers”, is happy to take your message.