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It was the only number that could not be dialled by accident by letting go of the dial too early. The aim wasn't to dial quickly, it was to avoid accidental cal
by emilyfm 9y ago
It was the only number that could not be dialled by accident by letting go of the dial too early. The aim wasn't to dial quickly, it was to avoid accidental calls.
Rotary dials in New Zealand were the other way around (sending ten minus the number dialled pulses) so the emergency number there was (and still is) 111 for the same reason: the hardest to dial by accident.
- stuaxo 9y agoApparently birds sitting on phone lines could trigger 111.
- grkvlt 9y agoYes, in e.g. the UK, perhaps, where 1 was two pulses (although they would be more likely to dial 000, I would think) but not in NZ, for the reason given in the comment you replied to.
- peteri 9y agoPretty sure 1 is just one pulse in the UK. Zero is at the far end of the dial next to 9.
- grkvlt 9y agoYou're right, it's been a long time since I used a rotary-dial phone (or even a keypad phone that used pulse dialing...) and information like this gets dropped off the stack of 'useful things to know' eventually ;(
- jayd16 9y agoRotary phones swirl the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere?
- boznz 9y agoNever even thought to ask the question and I live here, you learn something new every day..