In Praise of Phone Numbers
The internet offers many new ways to communicate, but nothing eclipses the 10-digit phone number.
Imagine for a moment a technology that is simple and universal, and needs no software updates. It is a string of numbers, each portion acting as a precise set of coordinates—so basic and elegant that your great-grandparents could use it. Put the numbers in the correct sequence and the technology immediately triggers a bit of magic: Where seconds ago there was silence and haptic nothingness, all of a sudden there is a glorious burst of sound or vibration miles, even continents, away. Then, if you’re lucky, you hear a voice, and you respond with yours: your questions, your frustrated pleas to speak with a “representative!”
The phone number has been with us in some form since 1879, and unlike carbon paper, VHS tapes, and the
