Portable Phone Numbers = Market for Cool Numbers

goombah99 writes "The New phone number rules that allow you to keep your phone number when you switch carriers has given rise to phone nascent number property rights. On E-bay you can bid on 867-5309 (made famous by Tommy Tutone's Jenny I got your number). As I write this the bid is over $8000 dollars with seven days to go. What other numbers are famous or valuable? Will we see a land rush like the internet names?"

Comments

and now I've got the song stuck in my head...

[sweeney37]

I think the general "gee-whiz" factor of owning 867-5309 would wear off really quickly. I know I called this number in the past, how many other people did too? I think the guy that is selling this is making a nice penny on his past headaches.

Mike

Re:and now I've got the song stuck in my head...

[bryanp]

Owning the number would be more useful for a small-medium business. There is a service company in my area that has xxx-867-5309 and they can put it in their commercials knowing that people will remember it. For a business this is a very valuable thing.

Re:and now I've got the song stuck in my head...

[geekoid]

how is it valuable to a business that 90% of there time answering the phone is wasted?
Everytime a radio station plays that song, there going to get 1000's of phone calls.
None of which will be a sale.

"Ownership" of the phone number

[dada21]

It is odd how people have become acclimated to the belief that they own their phone number. Back in the day (in the 80s) I had lost a phone number when a local business wanted it. The phone company explained clearly in their legal text (which was in the phone book) that you don't own the number, and can lose it at any time.

Do phone numbers really matter all that much? I used to know all my friends' phone numbers by memory. Now, speed dial makes it worthless.

If someone changes their number, they e-mail me, I save it to my contacts list, and when I sync my phone the new phone number is there. I don't think I call more than 1 person a day from my phone without using the contact list. I use over 3000 minutes a month from my cell phone, so that's around 9-10 people a day I call without knowing their number.

For a business, having a cool number that spells something or references the business in a memorable way makes sense only when you need to get people to call you after seeing an advertisement. Once you regularly call someone, you probably won't recall that number, even if its something great like 4-DADA-21.

I know I don't own my phone number. I also know I'll be paying more on my cell phone bill so that others can keep their numbers. I've switched cell phone numbers probably 4 times in 8 years, and never really lost contact with anyone.

If people matter to me, they know more than my phone number. They have my e-mail address, they have my home address, they can contact me through other friends. If I lost my number today, I'd be hampered for maybe 2 days and then it would be business as usual.

I'd rather not pay for this feature so others can "protect their private property."

Re:"Ownership" of the phone number

[RESPAWN]

You are pulling our plonkers, right? Every phone I've owned in the last five years has had some way of syncing with an application on a PC.

Again, the phone may have the capability, but how many people actually do it? I only know 2 of my friends who do it with their phones. One because his phone has Bluetooth and he already had a Bluetooth transceiver, and the other because he already owned the PC cable so he could surf the internet using his phone as the modem.

Personally, I never synced my phone because I didn't feel like letting my phone's manufacturer screw me out of $35 for a bloody data cable. That was before I came to rely on my cell phone so much and before I had the level of disposable income that I now have. Now, I just don't do it becuase I have plans to buy a new phone and again don't want to spend $35 on a bloody cable for a phone I'm not going to keep around much longer.

Yeah, the phone can sync with the PC, but most people don't even know that it's possible. I don't mean to insult you or anybody else here, but I feel that a majority of the people on /. sometimes don't realize just how technologicaly stupid most of the population is. I see it every day at work, being in the IS industry. I constantly have people asking me how I know so much about computers, how do I remember all that stuff, etc., all while performing simple tasks that I take for granted. I would be willing to bet that, now that cell phones have become such a universally accepted commodity, 85% - 90% of people owning a cell phone are unaware that they can sync it with their computers.

Re:Area Code 212 isn't mentioned in the song..

[Anonymous Coward]

That deserves an interesting mod. Not only the lyrics and explanation about the area code, but the fact that Tommy Heath is a software engineer.

Could he be reading Slashdot right now? More importantly... if he posted, would he be believed? >:)

Re:Prank Calls

[rs25com]

I used to work for Cellular One in San Francisco, and we had the 867 prefix. Of course, one of my friends owned a small record company, so he snagged 867-5309.

Worst mistake of his life. Because it was a business, he had to answer all the calls.

And yes, EVERYONE prank calls that number ALL the time. He dropped it after 60 days. Whoever the guy was who called (supposedly) the number at 3am is exactly the type of moron the winner bidder will get to deal with until they, too, drop the number!

Re:Prank Calls

[madpierre]

What idiot would want a phone where you have to
pay to recieve *incomming* calls? Is this for real?
What a bizzare concept. Do you mean line rental?

Re:The ultimate ubiquitous identifier

[Eric Savage]

I don't understand the whole "I don't have a phone" or the more common "I don't have a cell phone" because "I don't want to be reached". There is a better solution, it's called "turning them off" or "not answering them". The thing that really aggravates me is that people always say it with a sense of pride, just like people who don't have TVs (a decision that does have merit). I'm sorry, but there is no pride to be taken in telling everyone you care about that you don't consider talking to them important. If you think it's a "leash" then you need to work on your self-esteem and be willing to tell people that you didn't feel like talking to them at that moment. I do it all the time and you'd be surprised how understanding people are.

It's the 21st century, and IMO having a cell phone is no longer an option for someone that interacts daily with friends and family. They are cheap to get and cheap to use, and I think you are going to find alot less people cutting you slack for your misguided principles.

Re:Prank Calls

[madpierre]

Wow.
Current situation in the UK (where the mobile market is
pretty saturated) is pay as you go phones average about
30p / min on calls and 5p / SMS. I tend to use these.
Contracts where you pay monthly vary. In fact some people
only ever pay the monthly rate and get by on the freebies
that the local telcos offer so they pay nothing for SMS
or outgoing calls. In *all* cases (unless the user specificly
accepts a reverse charge call) you pay nothing to recieve calls.

Also at the moment there is a slow but steady uptake of
the new generation phones. Hardware prices have dramatically
increased on prepay deals. But contracts still offer free
hardware for all but the most up to date phone.

Oh and take the 'idiot' reference tongue in cheek. I suppose you
have to take what your telecos offer. Even if the deal sucks. :)