Re:My Addressbook? Keep it. Telephone numbers are a disgrace...
by huxley on Thursday February 09, 2012 @07:49AM
(#3570881)
That's a new phenomenon though, people had to remember more phone numbers before mobile phones or built-in address books.
From muscle memory alone, I can still finger dial about a dozen phone numbers belonging to friends when I was a kid, even though it's been 28 years since I last called them. Funny thing is that I can't recall the numbers without mock dialling them.
Re:My Addressbook? Keep it. Telephone numbers are a disgrace...
by tintin on Thursday February 09, 2012 @07:55AM
(#3570905)
These are not problems with phone numbers.
20 years ago I knew all phone numbers from my friends and kept them on paper.
I still keep them on paper.
The points you describe could also be said about e-mail addresses and website addresses.
This is about people putting too much trust in (electronic) technology.
1. Ask yourself, how many phone numbers do you actually know at this very moment? I'm willing to bet, on average, it's less than five. It might be slightly higher on this site, but for the average consumer, I'm guessing it's between 1 and 3. I ask people this all the time, and I know many who don't know a single number other than their own, or their parents.
2. You've all seen the Facebook groups that pop up when someone loses their phone. "I lost my phone, give me your number!".
Apple is doing a very good job of solving this for the masses right now with iCloud, but you have to be an iPhone user to take advantage.