The Area Code was well established by the time I was starting to learn phone numbers. I do remember having an area code change on me as a kid in Southern California, and remember when, after moving to Denver, we went through the “trauma” of overlaying the new 720 on the classic 303, which ushered in local 10-digit dialing.
But what fascinates me most about area codes today is the extent to which they no longer (on mobile phones, at least) reflect where you are, but where you are originally from (or even where you want to be seen as being from). As I’ve been doing a lot more entering of phone numbers into my contacts list, I’ve been fascinated by “Oh, he’s got a 513 mobile number — I wonder where he originally got that?” (Cincinnati)
Indeed, with persistent phone numbers carried over time and even across carriers, phone number has become a sort of voluntary persistent user ID. A number of systems (esp. ones designed around mobile devices) use that mobile number to identify you, something that works until you decide to change it (or if you’re using off-the-shelf reloadable phones — an interesting economic distinction in the making).
What fascinates me almost as much is how, that aspect aside, nobody much cares any more. I know my home number, my mom’s home number (because it used to be mine), my mobile number, and my wife’s mobile number (again, because it used to be mine). (I also still remember the phone number of the house we lived in growing up.) Everything else is in a contacts list of some sort, programmed into the phone, or otherwise memorized by a machine. I have to look up my kid’s mobile number all the time, just to be sure I’m writing it down on a form correctly. When/if we ever have to add an additional digit to the North American Numbering Plan, nobody will really have to sweat it.
The Unexpected Logic Behind Area Codes
Why aren’t they laid out in an obvious way, like ZIP Codes are?
Some people care quite a lot. There are folks who have paid lots of money to get a 212 (originally NYC, then just Manhattan) area code, as it's seen as more desirable.
Funny. This reminds me of the day my brother wanted to call an old common friend. He couldn't remember the number, so he asked me, and I couldn't either. But I had the idea to dig a rotary dial phone from the basement. And it seems I have a good muscle memory, because I could dial it without thinking… And yes, the friend's number had been ported through the years, so my brother managed to reach him in the end.
Not too long ago, something was floating around asking you to name things that younger people wouldn't understand. Until I read this article, I had forgotten the most amazing thing that younger people wouldn't understand – the dread of having to contact a phone number that had a zero in it.
+John E. Bredehoft SZZZZHHHHK-tikka-tikka-tikka-tikka-tikka …
+Jodi Kaplan The article makes mention of that (and I even comment on it). It reminds me of my brother-in-law's neighborhood, which is proudly listed as "Beverly Hills-adjacent".
My area code says niether where I live nor where I'm from. It was merely where I lived when I got the number. I may change it when my husband leaves the Navy and we stop moving, but I may not.
Years ago, Canadian +Steven Hodson wrote a piece about using a fake U.S. address to access some Microsoft service that was limited to U.S. residents only. The zip code that Hodson chose for his fake address? 90210.
+Andy Brokaw Well, "from" when you got that number, which for someone who moves frequently might not be particularly meaningful.
With increasing use of mobile numbers for a variety of identification purposes, though, I have to wonder when it will become more of a hassle to change them than it will be to not look the same as all (most) of the other locals.
+Dave Hill Yeah, the hassle of changing it and having to remember all the accounts I have that use it either as login or as two factor identification is part of why I hesitate. Kinda like how the email address I've used for the last decade gets way too much spam but switching to a new one would be a serious pain.
I wrote a database handling applications in a geographical area back in '98 or so. I broke this area up into area codes as a way of creating more manageable sub-groups. About five years ago, I had to rewrite all of that based on zip codes instead because too many people had out of area area-codes on their mobile phones anymore.
There’s one group of people who still pay attention to your area code. I have an East Coast number and I live on the West Coast. The spammers all start calling me at 7 AM.
So I assume you get a ton of calls around 4pm PST, when they think you're eating dinner.
A new area code was recently added here. I now have to dial 10 digits for numbers in my own area code.
I do enjoy getting calls at work from people in my old area code. I like to ask which city they're from.