Why Phone Numbers Look the Way They Do

Ever wonder why your phone number looks the way it does? Why is it those 10 digits in that order? How do area codes work? What is a central office? In this video we'll take a look at the history of the telephone network in the United States and how a series of new technological leaps resulted in the phone number format we are all familiar with today. Support me on Patreon:   / noleseande   Google Doc for Nerds: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... CHAPTERS: 0:00 Intro 0:52 Beginnings 4:14 Central Offices and Exchange Names 7:24 Rotary Dials and Automatic Switchgear 8:18 Operator Toll Dialing and Standardization 15:13 Direct Distance Dialing 17:50 All Number Calling 18:49 Growths, Splits, and Overlays 21:37 Number Portability 22:27 Ending, Conclusions SOURCES: [1] http://www.telephonearchive.com/numbe... [2] https://archive.org/details/ATT-1955-... [3] https://archive.org/details/keevers-1... [4] https://archive.org/details/Pgh1951/P... [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A... [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origina... [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepho... [8] https://historysdumpster.blogspot.com... [9] https://housenovel.com/home-history-n... [10] https://telephoneworld.org/landline-t... [11] https://web.archive.org/web/201410211... [12] https://web.archive.org/web/201411030... [13] https://www.arctos.com/dial/ [14] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles... [15] https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/f... [16] https://www.lincmad.com/areacode.html [17] https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassb... [18] https://www.numberverifier.com/post/e... [19] https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/23/ar... [20] https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/te... [21] https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikei... [22]   / do_you_remember_the_transition_to_10digit_...   [23] https://www.uneeda-audio.com/stuff/ex... [24] https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/20... [25]    / @atttechchannel   [26] https://xkcd.com/1129/ [27]    • Why phone numbers look like this   [28] Brooks, John. “Telephone: The First Hundred Years.” New York: Harper & Row, 1976. [29] https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassb... [30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of... [31] https://www.artlebedev.com/mandership...