What Use Is An F-call?

What use is an F-call? In the past I've talked about the history of Amateur Radio and how as a new participant it's easy to make the same mistakes as those who came before you because you don't yet know enough to ask the right questions, or the right place to look. Recently I had a conversation on air with an Amateur who had been fascinated with the hobby since the late 1940's, so over 60 years of experience in the field. At the time we were talking about inspiration, that is, what is it that inspired him to become part of the hobby. He told of a time when he built a kit and made a transmitter and it worked. He was hooked. And while that story continues on, I'm going to go sideways to show a little of the world and how it's changed in those 60 years. We're all familiar with the idea of going from horse and cart to the automobile. Unless you've actually sat in a cart and experienced it, it's still only sort of an understanding of the change and evolution. Right now, you're likely sitting next to a radio t