Arkadiy Shats was gentle, examining the old patient and deciding he had no choice but to operate. The surgery went fast: no more than 10 seconds of juggling a screwdriver and a pair of tweezers.The patient was a pager.Remember pagers? They were the razzle-dazzle innovation that kept doctors tethered to patients, drug dealers tethered to customers, government officials tethered to underlings, reporters tethered to editors. In the 1980s and early 1990s, everybody carried them. They beeped.   Read more...