A Mr. Al G. Bell IV from Bummfuque Idaho asks...
"Dear Mr. Knowitall, Is there a reason why area codes are assigned the way they are by the phone companies"?
...Dear Al, it does seem a bit strange that 212 is for New York City, and 213 is for Los Angeles. But in 1948, assigning area codes had NOTHING to do with geography! It had to do with how fast people could dial them. Lets not forget that back then there were no touchtone phones of any kind, we all had ROTARY phones!
The faster numbers-1,2,and 3, were called 'Low-Dial Pull' numbers. They were given to large cities for one simple reason..It saved the phone company money! Millions of people called those cities every day, the faster each caller could dial the number, the less time the phone company's switching machines would be tied up making the connection. Hence...The fewer switching machine the company had to buy!
Today, the only concern when assigning new area codes, is to make them as different as possible from neighboring codes, so people wont get confused.
Good Question....
Mr. Knowitall worked late tonight and grows weary...
Peace...!!!
(We are finally getting a 'Heavy-Snow' warning for Tuesday night. 6-10 inches. We have barely a half inch on the ground now!)
19 comments:
Have a happy Tuesday!
8675309....
Sleep well, but don't forget that number....
Ha!
Fab Di
And I'll bet you HAVE a rotary phone in your museum, don't you?:)
yeah my snow already melted. get some rest you deserve it
Now there's a piece of information I did not know. Makes sense, though. I remember hating phone numbers with lots of 8s and 9s.
I gotta start posting photos of our snow. We're under over a foot and we're expecting another 8 by Wednesday. I called off going to class last night. Wasn't in the mood to tempt murphy on the whole black ice thing.
As for area codes being due to popularity ... hahahahah no wonder Indiana is 812 .. there's nothing there!!! And Southwest Ohio is 937 because it sucks here!!! LOL
You can have all the snow you want in the 810 but keep it the hell out of the 313.
That was very interesting G-man. Our first phone was a rotary phone and I loved the noise it made when you dialled. :)
You are a fount of fascinating facts.
We are due to get another 12 - 20 inches. I mean those numbers look good when written like that, but not for snow.
Dismal
interesting on teh area codes...it is a question i have pondered...
snow here as well...only a skiff right now, so wil be heading in to hibernate here in a few minutes...
Very cool.............
i actually have that phone
in my "museum" here,
but that's the only retro thing
i have...
that and the first Macintosh
computer...
and my dad has some 8 track tapes,
and a Sergio Mendez record...
i think thats it...
ps...Bummfuque Idaho?
this is why i love you, G-man...
xo Lana
My mom doesn't have a cell phone, and has had the same land line number for 50 years. Holy Ring Tones, G Man!!
I'm new to your blog G-Man. I can see why people like to read you! I look forward to more.
Sherry
if you've been doing area code history, no wonder you're tired.
stay warm and safe,
My daughter once said 'why do people say DIAL a phone? That's so dumb.' ...and my husband and I went into shock. We remembered rotary phones all right! Brrrrrrr, tick-tick-tick-tick LOL
Cool stuff G-man!
OMG why am I not first? How could I forget you? My # is 867-5309, LOL Now you got it, you got it, you got my number on your wall! Sorry, couldn't resist :P
wow, i had no idea that was the reason but it makes perfect sense.
thanks, mr knowitall.
my snow already melted. get some rest you deserve it
Work from home India
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