3 ms·

I remember the emergency number being 90000 back when rotary dials were common. It's harder to misdial that 999, because you want as separated numbers as possib

I remember the emergency number being 90000 back when rotary dials were common. It's harder to misdial that 999, because you want as separated numbers as possible, and it's faster to dial because only the first 9 takes time, and then you zip through a bunch of zeroes at the end. I suspect 911 was chosen similarly.

mjg59 9y ago
Most rotary phone systems had 1=1 pulse, 2=2 pulses and so on, with 0=10 pulses. In that system, 0 would take even longer to dial than 9. New Zealand apparently went with 1=9 pulses, but still kept 0=10 pulses. Was there somewhere that had 0=1 pulse?
- henrikschroder 9y ago
  Oh wow, I had no idea the number positions varied across the world! I just assumed everyone went from 0 to 9, because it makes logical sense. :-D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial That article has a UK, a New Zealand, and a Swedish phone, and you're right, all different layouts.
  - henrikschroder 9y ago
    Holy crap, that article is full of crazy gems: > The Australian letter-to-number mapping was A=1, B=2, F=3, J=4, L=5, M=6, U=7, W=8, X=9, Y=0 wat? > In the United Kingdom the letter "O" was combined with the digit "0" rather than "6". nooo... > In Norway, the North American system with the number '1' corresponding to one pulse was used, except for the capital, Oslo, which used the same "inverse" system as in New Zealand. holy crap > the United Kingdom selected 999 due to the ease of converting call office dials to make free calls. "0" for the Operator was already free, and the cam that removed the shunt on the line when the dial was rotated to the "0" position could be altered to include the adjacent digit "9" (and "8" if required) so that calls to "0" and "999" could be made without inserting coins. And there we have the explanation for GPs assertation that "999" was the best number, it was instead a purely technical limitation in the mechanical construction of pay phones.

mjg59 9y ago

Most rotary phone systems had 1=1 pulse, 2=2 pulses and so on, with 0=10 pulses. In that system, 0 would take even longer to dial than 9. New Zealand apparently went with 1=9 pulses, but still kept 0=10 pulses. Was there somewhere that had 0=1 pulse?

henrikschroder 9y ago
Oh wow, I had no idea the number positions varied across the world! I just assumed everyone went from 0 to 9, because it makes logical sense. :-D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial That article has a UK, a New Zealand, and a Swedish phone, and you're right, all different layouts.
- henrikschroder 9y ago
  Holy crap, that article is full of crazy gems: > The Australian letter-to-number mapping was A=1, B=2, F=3, J=4, L=5, M=6, U=7, W=8, X=9, Y=0 wat? > In the United Kingdom the letter "O" was combined with the digit "0" rather than "6". nooo... > In Norway, the North American system with the number '1' corresponding to one pulse was used, except for the capital, Oslo, which used the same "inverse" system as in New Zealand. holy crap > the United Kingdom selected 999 due to the ease of converting call office dials to make free calls. "0" for the Operator was already free, and the cam that removed the shunt on the line when the dial was rotated to the "0" position could be altered to include the adjacent digit "9" (and "8" if required) so that calls to "0" and "999" could be made without inserting coins. And there we have the explanation for GPs assertation that "999" was the best number, it was instead a purely technical limitation in the mechanical construction of pay phones.