Why were/are we so obsessed with prank phone calls?

Does anyone remember the phone service that would call you back? You'd dial a number and hang-up, and it would immediately call you back so you could see if your ringer worked. One of the funniest [but evil] pranks I ever pulled was when a friend of mine and I using this to inverse prank call his dad. The dad was a really cool guy, but also high strung. He'd get mad quick when fucked with. The thing wouldn't make a noise (not like a fax or anything) so he assumed he was getting pranked. After a few calls he got mad enough to *69 it. To our incredible luck, the call back service did not count on the records, so *69 gave him the number of the last actual caller (from hours earlier). He called the actual caller back and asked them to stop calling him. They understandably had no idea what he was talking about. They'd hang up, and we'd get the thing to call again. Dad would get mad and *69 again, and *69 would again give them the old caller's number. So in his mind he's 100% convinced it is this same family planning him. He'd call back and more forcefully demand they stop calling him, they'd deny if again, rinse and repeat. It went on a few more times until we heard him lose his shit and absolutally scream something like "*well it was probably your stupid fucking kid he was always a little asshole just like his fucking dad*" before slamming the receiver down. We didn't dare try again. As an adult I realize this was terrible and could have fucked up his friendships or business relations. :( But as a 13 year old asshole it was the funniest thing that has ever happened. _________ Poor dude ended up passing away about a decade ago... he was probably the coolest of all my friends dad's. RIP Rick, sorry for being such a little shit.