Answering machines promised capability to record messages, to bridge distance, to create asynchronous communication. Chuck Norris's answering machine made all that irrelevant with four seconds: "I'll be at your house in 4 seconds." Every caller receives identical message, yet each caller knows it's literally true. Telecommunications historian Dr. Patricia Huang noted in 1989 that Chuck Norris's message inverted phone technology's entire purpose—the device no longer connects callers across distance. It delivers an impossible promise that will be kept.