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I don't know why but I was thinking about area code 947. Oh, you've never heard of 947? Well that's the "new" 248 overlay! Since 2002...
http://www.clickondetroit.com/consum...field-business
Anyone out there come across the new 947 number either personally or with a business? When I was getting my first cell phone on my parent's plan, I really wanted a 947# but they didn't want to deal with an odd one out.
Ages ago [[1950s?) computer programmers had to keep track of everything's location in memory because the only way to access it was by address number [[e.g., 73E0). There was no way to access it by a more meaningful textual name [[e.g., "Velocity"). This was a very tedious and error-prone process.
Most often nobody even cared exactly where in memory that value was stored as long as it could be read or written correctly and didn't get unintentionally corrupted.
Newer techniques were developed that offloaded this burden onto the computer itself. Today programmers can refer to functions and variables by a textual name and instead the computer allocates memory addresses and translates names to addresses. The programmer rarely needs to know exactly where things are stored.
It's amusing that we've yet to do this with phone numbers. If we have a phone that allows it, we can manually associate a name and phone number, but it's not yet to the point where we can ignore phone numbers universally.
Maybe this is one for the "Somebody needs to invent" thread. :D
Here's a list of the 947 exchange prefixes that have been assigned. Whether or not any of these have actually been turned on or not is anyone's guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
https://www.telcodata.us/search-area...=947&exchange=
The technology to do this has existed for maybe forty years. Shit, a lot of our modern electronic technology was invented by Bell. The difficulty isn't with the phone companies but with state regulatory agencies. In every state in America, phone companies are required to preserve backward compatibility with rotary telephones. Once this is lifted, then meaningful technological change can come, and pretty quickly; until such time, it is needlessly expensive to maintain two sets of connection technologies [[one backward compatible with rotary and one which cannot be).Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimaz
It appears that the 248 prefix is the old inner suburbs of Oakland County, while 947 is being assigned to the exurban/semi-rural communities. With the exception of Southfield.Quote:
Originally Posted by catch22
I find this surprising. The original split offs of 313 to 248 then 586 then 734 were driven by the dialup modem era of the internet. Suddenly everybody needed a dedicated phone line.
That has all changed as most broadband is delivered by cable and other non-dialup means and those extra lines were dropped.
I would think the demand for unique numbers would have diminished, even in face of everyone having their own mobile smartphone with unique numbers. Most people, myself included, are now or have ditched hardwire home phones just as they did their dialup modem numbers.
I was born in 1983 and grew up in Clawson. My memory of my home phone number was going from 313, to 810, to 248.
Here's an area code map:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...area_codes.png
Lowell, you're also forgetting the biggest use of phone numbers, Fax machines. They ate up way more numbers than modems ever did. At one point I had 7 phone numbers assigned to me between home and work. Now I'm down to 2.
The need for unique device numbers hasn't dissipated. It's just moved from the phone system to the internet. Now we don't need Phone numbers, we need MAC and IP addresses. We've run out of IP4 numbers, now we're working of the longer IP 6 numbers. [[IP4 numbers are grandfathered into the IP6 scheme.)
Luckily we no longer need to remember the IP numbers since we have domain names that automatically look up IP addresses.
ndavies, interesting point! How many numbers does each person have? Of course it is going to very wildly, but here's what I've got:
Personal Cell Phone - 248 [[virtual Google Voice number that gets forward to my work cell)
Work Cell Phone - 734
Work Desk Phone - 313
Work Fax Number - Toll Free
So that's four phone numbers dedicated solely to me. Some folks will even have home phone and fax numbers to add on top of that.
The area code splits used to take an entire weekend for phone companies to convert.... The phone company would bring their computers offline starting Friday night, and unload the old area code number records, delete and reinitialize their databases... and then reload them with the new area code/ 3 digit prefix [[NPA/NXX) number change included. This would often take all weekend to do, so that the systems were ready by Monday morning.
This arcane process was simplified when they did mass number changes via an OTN/NTN cross reference record [[Old Telephone Number/New Telephone Number)... which was already being done when people moved and got a new landline. So now with the vast reduction in landline phones... it just takes a few hours on a weekend to do.
Also... the 248/947 change was an "area code overlay". Which means that anyone with a 248 or 947 number would have to dial 11 digits [[1+ Area Code + 3 digit NXX + 4 digit number) to anyone else within their same area code. Folks living in the other area codes only have to dial a 7 digit number for other folks within their same area code.
But in this age of speed dialing and SmartPhones... those extra digits required for 248 or 947 become virtually meaningless as a burdensome extra chore.
I know someone with a MagicJack [[internet phone replacement for land line) that has a 947.
I also remember changing area codes.... 313 - 810 - 586.
We are forgetting that pagers used to eat numbers up. Anyway, I remember years ago my pager number was 810-510-4045 and my provider told me that I had to change my number because the area code was going to change soon [[didn't happen until years later, this was 1994 or 1995) and my number would be long distance if I kept it. So I changed it, then found out he wanted the number for himself, as the area code wasn't changing in Macomb county until 2001. Ticked me off.
We don't have that problem in New Mexico...we have 2 area codes 505 & 575....:p
Sprawl strikes the Land of Enchantment. When I lived there the whole state was Area Code 505 and Arizona ws 602Quote:
Originally Posted by Former_Detroiter
575 is relatively newQuote:
Originally Posted by shovelhead
Cell phones. Even during the dial up era most households had a max of two phone numbers. Today most households have a dedicated phone number for each member of the household above a certain age.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lowell
I received a telemarketing call from the 947 area code last month. I believe it was the first call I've ever received from 947 as I wondered where it was from--only to learn it was the 248 overlay that was announced years ago and seemingly unallocated--until now anyways. http://www.detroityes.com/mb/images/smilies/biggrin.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
[edit to add] When I installed a dedicated fax line back at the end of 2001, I believe there was talk of new numbers then possibly being part of a new overlay area code--what was to become 947--leading me to wonder if my fax machine would have a different area code than my personal landline and cell numbers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catch22
I had a 947 number from Verizon for the OnStar number for my vehicle in 2007 and in my 2010 vehicle too.