Albert Einstein was once reported to have said that he didn't know his phone number, simply because it was trivial information. If we wanted to know his number, he could simply look it up in his phone book.
When it comes to remembering numbers, I can be on the schizophrenic side. I know my bank account numbers by heart. I remember my phone number from Cowra in the 70's and Orange in the 80's. Why I remember these, I have no idea, I just do.
On the reverse, I only remember my wife's number as "2" on the speed dial. Nice in principle, but when leaving home without my mobile phone I realised I have absolutely no way of knowing how to get in contact. Except call my parents on 1800 REVERSE (I also realised pay phones no longer take coins) and ask them for the number.
Not remembering my PIN numbers numerically has also worked well, until in China a few years ago I looked blankly at an ATM with no alpha text, and 1,2,3 on the bottom.
The process of remembering words rather than numerals works well in most cases. As an advertiser, it's so much easier to spell or read a word and have the audience be able to recall it.
But, I think we've been a bit too clever for our own good. Earlier this week I had a lead from a website that advertises only it's 1300 WORD contact. Admittedly, it's a lot cleaner than adding the numeric version below, but it's also becoming impractical. As our nation moves to smart phones, we no longer have keypads with aplha/numeric combinations. Advertise a word to me, and I can't ring you. Period.
When it comes to remembering numbers, I can be on the schizophrenic side. I know my bank account numbers by heart. I remember my phone number from Cowra in the 70's and Orange in the 80's. Why I remember these, I have no idea, I just do.
On the reverse, I only remember my wife's number as "2" on the speed dial. Nice in principle, but when leaving home without my mobile phone I realised I have absolutely no way of knowing how to get in contact. Except call my parents on 1800 REVERSE (I also realised pay phones no longer take coins) and ask them for the number.
Not remembering my PIN numbers numerically has also worked well, until in China a few years ago I looked blankly at an ATM with no alpha text, and 1,2,3 on the bottom.
The process of remembering words rather than numerals works well in most cases. As an advertiser, it's so much easier to spell or read a word and have the audience be able to recall it.
But, I think we've been a bit too clever for our own good. Earlier this week I had a lead from a website that advertises only it's 1300 WORD contact. Admittedly, it's a lot cleaner than adding the numeric version below, but it's also becoming impractical. As our nation moves to smart phones, we no longer have keypads with aplha/numeric combinations. Advertise a word to me, and I can't ring you. Period.
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| How can we 1300 CALL YOU? |
Does this mean the end of the 1300 phone industry? Google the various options, and you wouldn't think so. There's a myriad of companies all offering so called "smart numbers", and they're not a cheap option.
There's a lot of industries that have survived death predictions. Video stores were going to be the end of movie houses. Foxtel was going to be the end of video stores (so were the endless supply of mail order DVD websites still searching for people to give them their credit card details). Blu Ray was going to be the demise of DVDs. All still alive and kicking.
Then again, I still wonder exactly how smart numbers can survive if they can't be used on smart phones ........
There's a lot of industries that have survived death predictions. Video stores were going to be the end of movie houses. Foxtel was going to be the end of video stores (so were the endless supply of mail order DVD websites still searching for people to give them their credit card details). Blu Ray was going to be the demise of DVDs. All still alive and kicking.
Then again, I still wonder exactly how smart numbers can survive if they can't be used on smart phones ........
1300 Numbers are designed to benefit the callers that are not local to the business. The voip age has made things a little different now.
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