5 ms·

Stepping back a bit, I find it kind of strange that knowledge of a 7-digit number is all that's required for anyone in the world to (by default) immediately int

Stepping back a bit, I find it kind of strange that knowledge of a 7-digit number is all that's required for anyone in the world to (by default) immediately interrupt someone.

csallen 3y ago
In the prehistoric era (and continuing into the present day), all that's required to interrupt someone is a set of vocal chords you can use to talk to them, or a finger you can use to tap them on the shoulder, or a fist you can use to knock on their door. The universe isn't naturally shaped in a way that makes interrupting difficult, and never has been.
- bomewish 3y ago
  Technology reducing distance kinda changes the game though.
- dghlsakjg 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure that if the phone system didn't exist, no one from a call center in South Asia would have ever come all the way to rural Canada to try to tell me I have a computer virus that they can fix for a few hundred dollars.
  - erehweb 3y ago
    Maybe not exactly that, but traveling salesmen (snake oil, encyclopedias) used to be more of a thing.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- cortesoft 3y ago
  You also have to by physically near them. > The universe isn't naturally shaped in a way that makes interrupting difficult, and never has been. Yes it is... physical space is shaped to keep most people from being able to interrupt you. Being able to call anyone around the world changed that.
  - csallen 3y ago
    What common physical space keeps people from interrupting you? - I had my own room as a kid. My parents and brother banged on the door whenever they pleased. - I worked at a tech company, had my own desk, and wore headphones. Coworkers still sent me Slack messages and tapped me on my shoulder. - I've lived in a home in the burbs. People came to my home and rang the bell. None of them were hard for the interruptor to do, and all of them happened frequently. In fact, I would argue that they are more frequent than the number of phone calls I get nowadays, which are actually easy much easier to screen/ignore than any of the above interruptions.
    - jamilton 3y ago
      I think their point is in physical space, dozens to maybe thousands of people (if there's a lot of people around you, I guess?) can easily interrupt you at any given moment. With phones and things like Slack, hypothetically anyone near a phone can interrupt you if you're near your phone. Which people usually keep near them. I would say depending on how bad someone has it they could get 1 to 3 spam calls a day, I assume if someone was getting consistently more than that they'd use a screener to lower it. That's a significant amount.
      - csallen 3y ago
        In all of the places named above, people have interrupted me more than once a day, and I don't think that's abnormal. And again, it's much easier and less rude to put my phone on silent for unknown numbers, than it is to ignore a coworker/friend/neighbor/partner/child who's trying to get my attention, or even a stranger at my door. I'm not here defending spam calls. They are annoying AF. Nor do I disagree that hypothetically more people on Earth have access to us than ever before. Of course they do. Nor do I find being interrupted pleasant. I personally find it very annoying, even when it's a loved one. I'm just making the point that this idea of world where people weren't easy to interrupt never existed.
        cortesoft 3y ago
recursive 3y ago
That's a local phone number in the US. It's 10 digits nationally. More internationally.
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  so I always thought that but weirdly a bunch of countries are just on the US exchange system. It's still billed as an international call but for example Bermuda is just 441. The American in me chuckles a bit at the idea of the UK's monarchs needing to dial 1 first to call their own territory
  - xattt 3y ago
    Why does 011 not apply?
    - sidewndr46 3y ago
      011 is north america's international calling prefix. 1 is north america's calling code.
  - romafirst3 3y ago
    I can guarantee you that a UK monarch has never dialed a telephone on their own.
    - shermantanktop 3y ago
      Though according to The Crown, they are constantly jabbering on the phone. After some designated member of staff dials it with a dialing glove, no doubt.
    - sidewndr46 3y ago
      or driven one of those horseless carriages either I assume
ryandrake 3y ago
Here's a thought. If the concept of a phone was never invented, and nobody knew what one was, and then suddenly here in 2024, an app company invented an app where: - The user could type in a N digit number and hit a button... - This would cause another user's device to instantly stop doing what it was doing. ring and buzz with a modal popup window... - With no authentication whatsoever or often even no identification... - And then if that other user pushed a button, it allowed the initial user to be able to instantly start sending them voice This thing would never make it past any app store's guidelines, and would likely be unacceptable to users. It's intrusive, invasive, and practically invites abuse and spam. Yet, since The Phone is an actual historic invention that goes back decades, it's culturally acceptable for I guess legacy reasons.
- bobbylarrybobby 3y ago
  Calling used to be expensive.
seadan83 3y ago
Interesting point. 7 digits was in part chosen because people used to have to remember phone numbers. So.. add a few digits and suddenly spammers would have trouble. On the hand, add a few digits to phone numbers and Y2K might look like a walk in the park.

Stepping back a bit, I find it kind of strange that knowledge of a 7-digit number is all that's required for anyone in the world to (by default) immediately interrupt someone.

csallen 3y ago

In the prehistoric era (and continuing into the present day), all that's required to interrupt someone is a set of vocal chords you can use to talk to them, or a finger you can use to tap them on the shoulder, or a fist you can use to knock on their door. The universe isn't naturally shaped in a way that makes interrupting difficult, and never has been.

bomewish 3y ago
Technology reducing distance kinda changes the game though.
dghlsakjg 3y ago
I'm pretty sure that if the phone system didn't exist, no one from a call center in South Asia would have ever come all the way to rural Canada to try to tell me I have a computer virus that they can fix for a few hundred dollars.
- erehweb 3y ago
  Maybe not exactly that, but traveling salesmen (snake oil, encyclopedias) used to be more of a thing.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
cortesoft 3y ago
You also have to by physically near them. > The universe isn't naturally shaped in a way that makes interrupting difficult, and never has been. Yes it is... physical space is shaped to keep most people from being able to interrupt you. Being able to call anyone around the world changed that.
- csallen 3y ago
  What common physical space keeps people from interrupting you? - I had my own room as a kid. My parents and brother banged on the door whenever they pleased. - I worked at a tech company, had my own desk, and wore headphones. Coworkers still sent me Slack messages and tapped me on my shoulder. - I've lived in a home in the burbs. People came to my home and rang the bell. None of them were hard for the interruptor to do, and all of them happened frequently. In fact, I would argue that they are more frequent than the number of phone calls I get nowadays, which are actually easy much easier to screen/ignore than any of the above interruptions.
  - jamilton 3y ago
    I think their point is in physical space, dozens to maybe thousands of people (if there's a lot of people around you, I guess?) can easily interrupt you at any given moment. With phones and things like Slack, hypothetically anyone near a phone can interrupt you if you're near your phone. Which people usually keep near them. I would say depending on how bad someone has it they could get 1 to 3 spam calls a day, I assume if someone was getting consistently more than that they'd use a screener to lower it. That's a significant amount.
    - csallen 3y ago
      In all of the places named above, people have interrupted me more than once a day, and I don't think that's abnormal. And again, it's much easier and less rude to put my phone on silent for unknown numbers, than it is to ignore a coworker/friend/neighbor/partner/child who's trying to get my attention, or even a stranger at my door. I'm not here defending spam calls. They are annoying AF. Nor do I disagree that hypothetically more people on Earth have access to us than ever before. Of course they do. Nor do I find being interrupted pleasant. I personally find it very annoying, even when it's a loved one. I'm just making the point that this idea of world where people weren't easy to interrupt never existed.
      - cortesoft 3y ago

recursive 3y ago

That's a local phone number in the US. It's 10 digits nationally. More internationally.

sidewndr46 3y ago
so I always thought that but weirdly a bunch of countries are just on the US exchange system. It's still billed as an international call but for example Bermuda is just 441. The American in me chuckles a bit at the idea of the UK's monarchs needing to dial 1 first to call their own territory
- xattt 3y ago
  Why does 011 not apply?
  - sidewndr46 3y ago
    011 is north america's international calling prefix. 1 is north america's calling code.
- romafirst3 3y ago
  I can guarantee you that a UK monarch has never dialed a telephone on their own.
  - shermantanktop 3y ago
    Though according to The Crown, they are constantly jabbering on the phone. After some designated member of staff dials it with a dialing glove, no doubt.
  - sidewndr46 3y ago
    or driven one of those horseless carriages either I assume

ryandrake 3y ago

Here's a thought. If the concept of a phone was never invented, and nobody knew what one was, and then suddenly here in 2024, an app company invented an app where: - The user could type in a N digit number and hit a button... - This would cause another user's device to instantly stop doing what it was doing. ring and buzz with a modal popup window... - With no authentication whatsoever or often even no identification... - And then if that other user pushed a button, it allowed the initial user to be able to instantly start sending them voice This thing would never make it past any app store's guidelines, and would likely be unacceptable to users. It's intrusive, invasive, and practically invites abuse and spam. Yet, since The Phone is an actual historic invention that goes back decades, it's culturally acceptable for I guess legacy reasons.

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago
Calling used to be expensive.

seadan83 3y ago

Interesting point. 7 digits was in part chosen because people used to have to remember phone numbers. So.. add a few digits and suddenly spammers would have trouble. On the hand, add a few digits to phone numbers and Y2K might look like a walk in the park.