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Years ago, I bought some software. Its serial number had quite a few digits. I found out later that I had been the first customer. I guess the idea was that c
by bluenose69 5y ago
Years ago, I bought some software. Its serial number had quite a few digits. I found out later that I had been the first customer. I guess the idea was that customers might be more confident to jump in the water, if they saw others there already.
- locao 5y agoAbout 15 years ago I was part of a team of four developing a VoIP platform. When we were about to release we realized that our first customer would be upset if they knew they were actually the first customer. So each one of us said a number and our first user had an ID similar to 1003912 :)
- eyelidlessness 5y agoThis is a technique used in other ways too. For instance, when opening a new checking account, it’s common to start with an arbitrary number for the first check. And often new businesses will start with an arbitrary invoice number.
- tyingq 5y agoThere's a fair number of ecommerce setups that default to numerically ascending order numbers also.
- jdofaz 5y agoIt used to be common for businesses to refuse to take a check if it had a low check number, the assumption was the account was new and had a higher chance of bouncing. Eventually the banks let you pick or set high numbers so you wouldn't have to deal with that inconvenience.
- imoverclocked 5y agoI remember getting a large-ish IBM storage product 10-15 years ago with a serial number of 1. They actually updated it once someone realized!