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by bahmboo 31 days ago
How many phone numbers do you have memorized? These days I only know a few but I used to know dozens.
6 comments

I know half a dozen. All from the 80s and 90s, and only two which actually exist today.

Other than that I know mine and my wife’s.

Oddly enough I knew a company which had a phone number which was two digits transposed from my home number - 818614. My number until about 1993 was 818641. Didn’t realise the company was still going until a couple of weeks ago when a lorry pulled up outside my window with the name and phone number on.

The other number I remember is my school number for some reason, I can’t think of ever have rung it. It’s still the same number today, 30 years later.

A few family, a few friends, some past work numbers, some of my phone numbers from a decade or two ago when I occasionally changed them, the Apple switchboard because I might have bled in six colors a long time ago, and of course Jenny because if not for her I'd have no clue whose phone number to give to the grocery store checkout system.
Easily half of the numebrs I still remember are numbers which are totally unimportant to me now. A Pizza Hut in a city I haven't lived in for well over a decade. A friend's home phone number that was disconnected when they moved many many years ago. My own home phone number growing up, long disconnected.

Kind of interesting what just gets etched into your memory. I still remember an address of a house from when I was very small and have no other real memory of as my parents wanted to be sure I'd be able to tell people if I was ever lost.

Due to a failure of smartphone navigation UX, I know a bunch of addresses for work/friends/etc but very few new phone numbers. To learn an important phone number, someone told me to use that as my phone's lock screen/PIN.
More IP addresses than phone numbers for me, but around a dozen of each.
Someone should make a payphone where you dial an IP address.
Do TV lawyers, roofing installers, or carpet stores count?