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I was wondering aloud at work the other day if robocalls could actually spell the end of the phone number. It is extremely rare that I actually make a telephon

by blang 8y ago

I was wondering aloud at work the other day if robocalls could actually spell the end of the phone number. It is extremely rare that I actually make a telephone call to talk to someone, it's been replaced with facetime and google hangouts, and it's very rare that someone calls me on my phone number that isn't a scam call. Pretty much the only time I get calls that I need to pick up are when my kid's day care is calling to tell me that my kid is running a fever and I need to pick them up, in this case they could probably text or email me.

randomerr 8y ago
I think phones are stilled needed. They're still the most reliable form of communication. But I see most people switching to white lists. Anyone not in your address book will get sent to voicemail right away.
- froindt 8y ago
  > But I see most people switching to white lists. Anyone not in your address book will get sent to voicemail right away. Imagine the future of mobile adware...where they get access to your contact list, generate generic names of similar ethnicity to your real contacts, and add fake contacts. Or they add additional numbers to contacts you already have. "Oh, my friend Stan is calling. DANGIT NO I DON'T WANT A MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT PLAN!"
  - JdeBP 8y ago
    Given what a lot of people now know (or should know) about what Facebook and Google record about everyone, this is not the future any longer. It is achievable right now, and I would not be shocked to find that someone is doing it already. (I'd be disappointed and irate.)
- ayyjohn 8y ago
  this is off topic but a friend linked me a comment you made a few months ago about the IBM dress code and "work being for work" and he can't find the article so I was hoping you might have it somewhere or remember the title or anything!
packet_nerd 8y ago
That would be great. At my company at least there's a lot of legacy infrastructure and complexity around phones and it's always seemed pointless to me, since obviously we already have a network. And like you, I don't even use the damn thing. And on a related note, I much prefer interacting with customer service through a well designed website or app, rather than having to call, figure out the menu, sit on hold forever, and finally talk to someone who can't help me. It boggles my mind that a phone number is the main way to get service from so many companies.
gowld 8y ago
The phone number won't die -- it's your primary account id with your mobile ISP, and it's your login id for many internet services. Legacy phone calls are overdue for death, though.

by blang 8y ago

randomerr 8y ago

I think phones are stilled needed. They're still the most reliable form of communication. But I see most people switching to white lists. Anyone not in your address book will get sent to voicemail right away.

froindt 8y ago
> But I see most people switching to white lists. Anyone not in your address book will get sent to voicemail right away. Imagine the future of mobile adware...where they get access to your contact list, generate generic names of similar ethnicity to your real contacts, and add fake contacts. Or they add additional numbers to contacts you already have. "Oh, my friend Stan is calling. DANGIT NO I DON'T WANT A MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT PLAN!"
- JdeBP 8y ago
  Given what a lot of people now know (or should know) about what Facebook and Google record about everyone, this is not the future any longer. It is achievable right now, and I would not be shocked to find that someone is doing it already. (I'd be disappointed and irate.)
ayyjohn 8y ago
this is off topic but a friend linked me a comment you made a few months ago about the IBM dress code and "work being for work" and he can't find the article so I was hoping you might have it somewhere or remember the title or anything!

packet_nerd 8y ago

That would be great. At my company at least there's a lot of legacy infrastructure and complexity around phones and it's always seemed pointless to me, since obviously we already have a network. And like you, I don't even use the damn thing. And on a related note, I much prefer interacting with customer service through a well designed website or app, rather than having to call, figure out the menu, sit on hold forever, and finally talk to someone who can't help me. It boggles my mind that a phone number is the main way to get service from so many companies.

gowld 8y ago

The phone number won't die -- it's your primary account id with your mobile ISP, and it's your login id for many internet services. Legacy phone calls are overdue for death, though.