Quote:
Originally Posted by sopas ej
Basically by design.
Back in 1947 when area codes were created in the US, the cities with the largest amount of long distance calls made to it were given priority with lower numbered area codes, because back then all phones had rotary dials, and it was faster to dial "213" vs., say, "808" (Hawaii) because of the amount of pulses it takes to make/amount of time it takes for the rotary dial to get back to its position.
NYC: 212
Los Angeles: 213
Chicago: 312
Detroit: 313
Philadelphia: 215
|
I've heard about how the number of clicks needed is like a time capsule of the importance of cities in the 1940s when the North American Numbering Plan was devised, but some of them still don't make sense. Even back then, were there really more people calling long-distance to St. Louis (314), Western Massachussets (413) or Greater Milwaukee (414), than San Francisco (415)?
Threaded Mode