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And so the legendary indestructibility of Nokia's phones shall be put to the test once more. The very first or two digits of any phone number on Earth are the

And so the legendary indestructibility of Nokia's phones shall be put to the test once more. The very first or two digits of any phone number on Earth are the country calling codes. We should add extra digits for a planetary calling code.

hnarn 6y ago
Almost all of them are taken but 999 is still free!
- DanBC 6y ago
  999 is the emergency number in the UK and a few other places. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_number) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_numbe...
  - hnarn 6y ago
    That's far from ideal, but country codes in phone numbers are also always prefixed, so a phone number in country code 999 would never start with that number, it would either be +999 [something] on a smartphone for example, or the old school equivalent 00 999 [something].
can16358p 6y ago
Imagine accidentally calling an astronaut. Or doing FaceTime/Zoom with them on the moon. It would be interesting.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  "I have great news about the extended warranty on your moon buggy!"
  - secondcoming 6y ago
    "According to our records you've been involved in an accident..." (Maybe that's UK only)
hexscrews 6y ago
And so, in 2050, the Nokia Shield Initiative was launched. 500 (american) football field sized Nokia 3310's were put into orbit to protect the earth.
iso1631 6y ago
Most country codes are 3 digits. There are a few 2 digits, and I think parts the old USSR and the North American Dialing region are the only 1-digit codes.
pilsetnieks 6y ago
Nokia isn't doing the phones, that's maybe why you're getting the downvotes; On the second point, however, I kinda agree. People are mentioning some of the +8XX international codes but we should really go hierarchical. A separate higher level code for Earth, for Moon, other planetary bodies; then eventually higher level codes for solar systems, etc. I really doubt they'll even be doing phone numbers, though.
- bluGill 6y ago
  There is no point in doing solar systems - the turn around time to the next star is ~ 8 years. Nobody will make a phone call with that sort of latency. It will be email (or videos) if anything at all. Even in this solar system only Venus and Mars can you even think about a phone call from earth - and then only for a few days when the orbits align closely. The rest of the time the latency will be too bad. Even when it is possible you will need special training to deal with the latency - it will be more of a monologue not a conversation, with pre-planed handoff times for the other side to state their bit. The moon will be possible, but most people who try it will find it annoying enough that they will avoid it. If grandma didn't go with you that it will be the only way to talk to the grandkids so it will be done, but if the moon ever becomes self-sustaining expect that there isn't a lot of communication back and forth. There is a reason satellite never took off for long distance calls - it works but people hated it because the other party didn't respond fast enough. Geosynchronous orbit is only used for calls where there isn't an underseas cable (I don't know if any such satellites are even left in orbit).
  - pilsetnieks 6y ago
    I know, I was being facetious. It's possible they won't even do phone numbers for the moon - LTE gives a data connection, and you use whatever protocol on top, VoIP, Signal, Whatsapp, Facetime, whatever.

hnarn 6y ago

Almost all of them are taken but 999 is still free!

DanBC 6y ago
999 is the emergency number in the UK and a few other places. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_number) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_numbe...
- hnarn 6y ago
  That's far from ideal, but country codes in phone numbers are also always prefixed, so a phone number in country code 999 would never start with that number, it would either be +999 [something] on a smartphone for example, or the old school equivalent 00 999 [something].

can16358p 6y ago

Imagine accidentally calling an astronaut. Or doing FaceTime/Zoom with them on the moon. It would be interesting.

reaperducer 6y ago
"I have great news about the extended warranty on your moon buggy!"
- secondcoming 6y ago
  "According to our records you've been involved in an accident..." (Maybe that's UK only)

hexscrews 6y ago

And so, in 2050, the Nokia Shield Initiative was launched. 500 (american) football field sized Nokia 3310's were put into orbit to protect the earth.

iso1631 6y ago

Most country codes are 3 digits. There are a few 2 digits, and I think parts the old USSR and the North American Dialing region are the only 1-digit codes.

pilsetnieks 6y ago

Nokia isn't doing the phones, that's maybe why you're getting the downvotes; On the second point, however, I kinda agree. People are mentioning some of the +8XX international codes but we should really go hierarchical. A separate higher level code for Earth, for Moon, other planetary bodies; then eventually higher level codes for solar systems, etc. I really doubt they'll even be doing phone numbers, though.

bluGill 6y ago
There is no point in doing solar systems - the turn around time to the next star is ~ 8 years. Nobody will make a phone call with that sort of latency. It will be email (or videos) if anything at all. Even in this solar system only Venus and Mars can you even think about a phone call from earth - and then only for a few days when the orbits align closely. The rest of the time the latency will be too bad. Even when it is possible you will need special training to deal with the latency - it will be more of a monologue not a conversation, with pre-planed handoff times for the other side to state their bit. The moon will be possible, but most people who try it will find it annoying enough that they will avoid it. If grandma didn't go with you that it will be the only way to talk to the grandkids so it will be done, but if the moon ever becomes self-sustaining expect that there isn't a lot of communication back and forth. There is a reason satellite never took off for long distance calls - it works but people hated it because the other party didn't respond fast enough. Geosynchronous orbit is only used for calls where there isn't an underseas cable (I don't know if any such satellites are even left in orbit).
- pilsetnieks 6y ago
  I know, I was being facetious. It's possible they won't even do phone numbers for the moon - LTE gives a data connection, and you use whatever protocol on top, VoIP, Signal, Whatsapp, Facetime, whatever.