4 ms·

The same properties that make phone numbers bad also make email addresses, postal addresses and other IDs bad. Sometimes a weak option is better than no option

The same properties that make phone numbers bad also make email addresses, postal addresses and other IDs bad. Sometimes a weak option is better than no option at all.

hocuspocus 10y ago
E-mail is far from being perfect (you can get you account unilaterally closed by your provider or you can lose your domain name), but in practice I've been using the same address for more than a decade, and I have aliases that are meant to last forever (my almuni address), while in the same period I've had 5 different mobile numbers that I used for services like banking or IM, which is very inconvenient indeed.
- herbst 10y ago
  Exactly! And you dont simply loose a domain if you dont really fail at renewing it, which usually is a peroid of 2 months getting reminder emails.
- craigds 10y ago
  I've had the same mobile number for the last fifteen years too. In NZ at least (not sure about other countries) it's trivial to take your number with you when you get a new SIM from any mobile provider. Though this wouldn't work across countries obviously.
  - atemerev 10y ago
    And I have changed (lost) around 10. People and their behavioral patterns are drastically different. (ADD sucks). At least 2 of them are now reused and given to other people.
    - herbst 10y ago
      This so much. And you can probably dont even remember which services they are bound to. The service now probably sends "you" a SMS and the people realize they have access to something they should not have to. Just crazy IMO. I rant about this for a while now, and many people say stuff like "you can just take your phone number with you". Its on par for me with "I have nothing to hide, why would i worry". Its just short sight and projecting personal use on the world.
  - hocuspocus 10y ago
    As a developer in Europe, moving across countries isn't a particularly crazy pattern I believe :) Also in some countries keeping your number isn't cheap. And even when it's technically easy, your phone plan might be provided by your employer, in this case it might be very tricky to get your number migrated when you change jobs.
    - herbst 10y ago
      And i highly assume we are a growing amount of people (remote working and actually moving). We may be a rare edge case now, but may aint in a few years anymore. And yes keeping my phone number as it was would cost me $80/month. With a provider i hated like the pest.
    - herbst 10y ago
      And i highly assume we are a growing amount of people (remote working and actually moving). We may be a rare edge case now, but may aint in a few years anymore. And yes keeping my phone number as it was would cost me $80/month. With a provider i hated like the pest.
herbst 10y ago
The point with email is that i CAN control the address myself. Sure i use external services to send and receive, but if that fails for some reason i can still setup my own servers and still have access to my accounts. No way of doing that with phone numbers. Postal addresses are Name + Address so get invalidated automatically when i move. Therefore i would argue are also better.

The same properties that make phone numbers bad also make email addresses, postal addresses and other IDs bad. Sometimes a weak option is better than no option at all.

hocuspocus 10y ago

E-mail is far from being perfect (you can get you account unilaterally closed by your provider or you can lose your domain name), but in practice I've been using the same address for more than a decade, and I have aliases that are meant to last forever (my almuni address), while in the same period I've had 5 different mobile numbers that I used for services like banking or IM, which is very inconvenient indeed.

herbst 10y ago
Exactly! And you dont simply loose a domain if you dont really fail at renewing it, which usually is a peroid of 2 months getting reminder emails.
craigds 10y ago
I've had the same mobile number for the last fifteen years too. In NZ at least (not sure about other countries) it's trivial to take your number with you when you get a new SIM from any mobile provider. Though this wouldn't work across countries obviously.
- atemerev 10y ago
  And I have changed (lost) around 10. People and their behavioral patterns are drastically different. (ADD sucks). At least 2 of them are now reused and given to other people.
  - herbst 10y ago
    This so much. And you can probably dont even remember which services they are bound to. The service now probably sends "you" a SMS and the people realize they have access to something they should not have to. Just crazy IMO. I rant about this for a while now, and many people say stuff like "you can just take your phone number with you". Its on par for me with "I have nothing to hide, why would i worry". Its just short sight and projecting personal use on the world.
- hocuspocus 10y ago
  As a developer in Europe, moving across countries isn't a particularly crazy pattern I believe :) Also in some countries keeping your number isn't cheap. And even when it's technically easy, your phone plan might be provided by your employer, in this case it might be very tricky to get your number migrated when you change jobs.
  - herbst 10y ago
    And i highly assume we are a growing amount of people (remote working and actually moving). We may be a rare edge case now, but may aint in a few years anymore. And yes keeping my phone number as it was would cost me $80/month. With a provider i hated like the pest.
  - herbst 10y ago
    And i highly assume we are a growing amount of people (remote working and actually moving). We may be a rare edge case now, but may aint in a few years anymore. And yes keeping my phone number as it was would cost me $80/month. With a provider i hated like the pest.

herbst 10y ago

The point with email is that i CAN control the address myself. Sure i use external services to send and receive, but if that fails for some reason i can still setup my own servers and still have access to my accounts. No way of doing that with phone numbers. Postal addresses are Name + Address so get invalidated automatically when i move. Therefore i would argue are also better.