Do you know what I'm not going to miss? Public payphones.

Spark has finally reached the end of the road. They've made the decision to rip 90 percent of these public payphones out of the ground.

They tried to save them. They tried to talk Auckland Council into a deal where they could modernise the payphones in Auckland and operate them on behalf of the public. In exchange, Spark would have been allowed to run digital advertising on the sides of the phones.

But Auckland Council said no and for good reason. The council already operates its own digital billboards and these phones would have eaten into that revenue stream. So the answer was no.

The Government didn't step in to change anything, and now the phones are simply too expensive for Spark to maintain in their current form. The copper wiring has been removed, so they're going to go.

And I'm happy to see the back of them because I can't tell you the last time I used a payphone, or even saw one being used. In fact, I don't believe anyone uses them anymore, even in an emergency.

Surely you'd be more likely to ask the nearest person, who would almost certainly have a cellphone you could use, than run a kilometre down the road looking for a payphone.

All they are now is visual clutter. They're often tagged, vandalised, or broken. The handset is hanging off the cradle, the glass panels are scratched, and they generally look neglected. And all of that would still be true if they were upgraded, right? They'd look great for five minutes, and then somebody would come along and write "Limp" on one or something.

And then you'd have to look at the advertising screens on the side.

Personally, I'm not gagging to see more moving billboards in an urban environment. There are parts of Auckland that would be beautiful if there weren't digital billboards constantly changing and flashing at me.

So, to me, this doesn't feel like a sad end to an era.

If there's a payphone near you, pay your last respects. Lay some flowers. Take a photo, maybe, so you can tell the kids in years to come what that thing once was and what you did with it.

And then say goodbye to a technology that has definitely had its day, hasn't it?

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Do you know what I'm not going to miss? Public payphones.

Spark has finally reached the end of the road. They've made the decision to rip 90% of these public payphones out of the ground.

They tried to save them. They tried to talk Auckland Council into a deal where they could modernise the payphones in Auckland and operate them on behalf of the public. In exchange, Spark would have been allowed to run digital advertising on the sides of the phones.

But Auckland Council said no and for good reason. The council already operates its own digital billboards and these phones would have eaten into that revenue stream. So the answer was no.

The government didn't step in to change anything, and now the phones are simply too expensive for Spark to maintain in their current form. The copper wiring has been removed, so they're going to go.

And I'm happy to see the back of them because I can't tell you the last time I used a payphone, or even saw one being used. In fact, I don't believe anyone uses them anymore, even in an emergency.

Surely you'd be more likely to ask the nearest person, who would almost certainly have a cellphone you could use, than run a kilometre down the road looking for a payphone.

All they are now is visual clutter. They're often tagged, vandalised, or broken. The handset is hanging off the cradle, the glass panels are scratched, and they generally look neglected. And all of that would still be true if they were upgraded, right? They'd look great for five minutes, and then somebody would come along and write "Limp" on one or something.

And then you'd have to look at the advertising screens on the side.

Personally, I'm not gagging to see more moving billboards in an urban environment. There are parts of Auckland that would be beautiful if there weren't digital billboards constantly changing and flashing at me.

So, to me, this doesn't feel like a sad end to an era.

If there's a payphone near you, pay your last respects. Lay some flowers. Take a photo, maybe, so you can tell the kids in years to come what that thing once was and what you did with it.

And then say goodbye to a technology that has definitely had its day, hasn't it?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Newstalk ZB sports reader Andrew Alderson and New Zealand Herald sports journalist joined in on a discussion about all of the latest New Zealand sporting issues.

Today a judge rejected a bid from NZ Rugby to stop the launch of a new Chiefs NRL team in Papua New Guinea. Is this the end or should NZ rugby fight more?

The Kiwis lost to the kangaroos in the Rugby League World Cup yesterday by the slimmest of margins. How badly did the referees screw the Kiwis? Where does the the team go from here?

Auckland FC kick off their season this weekend but a controversial lifting of a suspension for Sam Cosgrove has filled the headlines. Was Cosgrove right to fight back against media?

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some small kiwi businesses have been surprised by Facebook's newest fees. Meta has launched a new subscription service that charges businesses a monthly fee to post links to their websites.

It will cost $260 a month in New Zealand, and businesses will still be limited to posting just 20 links in the comments.

Tech commentator Bill Bennett told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Meta hasn't considered the impact this could have on New Zealand small businesses which often aren't as profitable as those in the United States.

He suggested businesses look at getting their own websites from local New Zealand sources.

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30,000 people in Wellington have failed to pay their first water bill under the new Tiaki Wai water services company, almost one in five customers.

Wellington's Mayor Andrew Little told Heather du Plessis-Allan there are a variety of reasons why people haven't paid their new water bills. Some were surprised to get the bill separately from their rates while others are finding it unaffordable and have set up payment plans.

He says there have been some mistakes with some properties without water connections being charged.

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Right, so the question is whether the Taxpayers' Union has gone too far with its AI advert about Chris Hipkins.

If you haven't seen the ad yet, let me explain it. It's a short video that starts with a ginger-haired man in a suit and red tie sprinting down a suburban street. He kicks in a door and runs into a house where a family is having dinner. He grabs all their wallets from the table and runs off. Then he kicks in the door of another house. A woman is watching TV. He rushes in, takes her wallet and bolts out the door.

Next, he steals a wallet from a renovation site and then takes all the money lying on a table at a barbecue. After that, he runs back out onto the street, jumps into a clapped-out red Toyota, looks into the rear-view mirror and it's Chippy.

Then the ad says: "We can't afford Labour."

As you can imagine, commentators on the left are absolutely losing their minds over it. Hipkins has called it nasty and desperate, saying it shows how out of touch the rich boys who run the Taxpayers' Union are.

Frankly, I think it's brilliant.

I saw it weeks ago, funnily enough, before the Taxpayers' Union released it and I thought it was very funny the first time I watched it.

It doesn't cross any ethical lines. No one is going to think it's really Hipkins, not only because the AI actor doesn't actually look like him, but because the behaviour is so outrageously over the top. There's no way anyone could seriously believe this is Chris Hipkins. You'd have to be an idiot to think it was real.

The use of AI is also perfectly acceptable. In fact, political parties would be idiots not to use something this cheap and effective. And I think that's the key point here.

This is the most effective attack ad on Labour yet. It's a thousand times more effective than every National MP going on about "nine new taxes" as part of some 1995-style political strategy in the hope that someone will take the claim seriously.

The ad takes the idea that Chippy is after your money, which supporters of the message would argue is true, and exaggerates it to the point of being funny. Because it's funny, and because it's visual, it sticks.

Now, you might not like the Taxpayers' Union. You might not like its politics. You might not like its strategies. But you have to admit that it is one of the best organisations in the business at campaigning and making a political point with a bit of humour.

My advice to Chippy would be this: stop talking about the ad, mate, because you're only drawing attention to it. Thousands more people are now going to want to see it, and they're going to remember it because it's quite funny.

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There has been some confusion over whether the National party is open to working with the Opportunity Party after leader Christopher Luxon reportedly told supporters he would work with 'whoever he has to' to secure a second term.

The party has since clarified that Luxon was referring to working with New Zealand First and Act MPs, and that his position on Opportunity hasn't changed.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan he still suspects Opportunity could be in the mix.

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