Police charge man was selling counterfeit CDs outside Mattapan hot-dog stand

Kinda. I wouldn't exactly call it "abandoned' or "time has passed". Un-used is a better term. Just because you aren't clamoring to use it in your home anymore or used in public spaces for the general public to plug into (i.e. cafe's, libraries, etc) doesn't mean its time has passed. It's still very much used in offices and business applications still.

You obviously never built out an office nor understand network topology. I've done several in recent years. I'm going to assume this picture was done at a PD station, so the building is several years old, which would explain some of it. But generally you put in as many Ethernet drops in as possible when doing new construction in offices, yes even in today's office construction, even if you have no immediate plans on using them. Its always best practice to have more than you need than to add more later, and do to do as many as your budget allows you to to do.

The reasoning is.. first off, it's expensive to to do post-closeup of the walls or as a "one off" later on. But more because offices change functions. Small conference rooms become someone's office, offices become storage rooms, you double up on offices (2 or more computers per office), OR you add/remove walls, and just move outlets somewhere else (which happens more than you think)... so you overbuild for the future. And if you use Cat 6 wiring, you've future proof'd yourself for the next 10-15 or so years (if not longer). All you have to do is replace the hardware on one end (the Ethernet switches) and you can upgrade your network to Gig speeds and beyond. Having more Ethernet outlets than you need just insures you'll have an outlet on the other end when you need it.

And then of course topology reasons. You want to have as many "home run" ports back to your wiring closet (or server room) as many as possible? Why? You want to avoid .. what I call.. "the switch menagerie" which is switches hanging off switches hanging off switches.. all daisy chained together. It's generally not good network topology. You *always* want your ethernet ports to run back to a home location to a core switch. It's just better design, and makes for easier management. So you often put in more ports than you need, even if you never use them, so you can avoid the "switch menagerie".

And then there's a security aspect of this. Typically wireless networks are considered "dirty" and "insecure". Sure you can secure them up with 802.x and encryption as much as possible, but generally you put wireless networks on their own LAN and limit what they can access, since they are your biggest security threat on your network. Ethernet, not so much. Its easy to turn ports on and off on the core switch to limit who has access. (or simply unplug the patch cable on the other end).

As far as telephone wires. You'd be surprised how many offices still use POTS lines or have "digital" phone systems, and haven't migrated to VoIP phone systems yet. Especially older, larger companies, that build out new offices. They still want to add their new offices to their old phone systems.

BUT I'm seeing running actual dedicated cat 3 less and less (such as in this picture) less and less. Last 2 build outs we didn't run any at all. Most now just use Cat 5e (or Cat 6) wiring and just change out the faceplate plugs from RJ45 to RJ11. Or even better, you just plug a R11 into a R45. The pin-outs will match, as long as its a R11 on both sides. It just won't look pretty.

Its not "time has passed" by any means. And don't forget, all those handy dandy wireless access points you connect to, have to connect to something to work. They connect to ethernet!