?
“Thank you for calling the U.S. nuclear arsenal command system. To launch nuclear missiles, press one. Para Español, marque dos.”
Just to screw with people more, “… Para Español, marque uno.”
Fire ze missiles!
But I am le tired!
What does 1-800 number mean? I guess it’s an USA thing, isn’t it?
A 1-800 number is immune to long distance charges, free to call by anyone in the US— the owner of the 800 number pays any fees associated with the call. Traditionally, 800 numbers are owned by companies in order to sell stuff. (The 1- portion of a 1-800 number means that it’s a long distance call… which was a thing when I was growing up in the 80s/90s, but basically isn’t a thing anymore in the age of cellphones)
The opposite of an 800 number is a 900 number. The person calling a 900 number has to pay, usually by minute, and most of that money goes to the owner of the 900 number. Famously used for phone sex lines.
To add to this, the 800 part is effectively an international convention for toll free numbers at this point. Most countries use either “800”, “0800”, or “1800”. On top of that the +800 country code is used for international toll-free numbers, but AFAIK it only works in a few countries.
To add further more: often also 810 or 820 numbers exist, where a phone call might have a toll up to 10 or 20 cents per minute respectively. With 900 numbers you usually dont know, how expensive they are, when only looking at the number.
The 1- portion of a 1-800 number means that it’s a long distance call
The 1 is the Country Code for the US. If you are dialing outside the US, you would start with the Country Code for the country you are calling. If you are outside the US dialing a US number, you start with a 1 to designate that the number is within the US.
The 1 is the Country Code for the US.
for North America and some island countries/territories*
So it’s a really expensive phone number to own? I would sell or delist it.
But you get it for free, I assume the costs are covered
I have one, it costs me like 1.5$ a month to own, and 0.02$/min. It’s cheap.
Are long-distance charges a thing anymore? I haven’t paid any fees for domestic long distance in over a decade - I thought they were extinct.
800 is really just an easy-to-remember area code for businesses now, aren’t they? Like .com.
Post about it on Lemmy
Well, is it a vanity number or just a bunch of random digits?
Let’s say you have a 50/50 chance of getting your choice of a vanity number or a randomly assigned 800 number - what do you do in either outcome?
- Research the highest selling ever vanity number, consult with the largest vanity number holders, find out what the most expensive vanity number is.
- If I get it, sell it.
- If it’s random, ask a bunch of people on Lemmy what their ideas would be if that happened.
I would set up a BBS with lots of text based games on it.
But who has a modem to dial it these days?
I probably have an old laptop somewhere with a modem on it, but then my next impediment is I don’t have a landline any more.
Not a lot of people, but there are retrocomputing hobbists who’d probably be stoked to find something like this.
Apparently you can tunnel through using a VoIP device, but it’s not great. Or get a cellular modem (do not know what kind of connection quality you’d have in 2024, or if it’s even a real option).
The other option would be finding an old payphone that works with an acoustic coupler. See here (Wayback link as on my phone, direct one doesn’t seem to work on all browsers, fine in Firefox but host pretends the site doesn’t exist in my default one that opens in Jerboa*)
https://web.archive.org/web/20220520161806/http://wrybread.com/WryRoad/gadgets/coupler.htm
I am admittedly a giant dork, but a quest to try and find a payphone that still exists AND you could actually do this with sounds fun. Seeing someone sitting next to a payphone with a buncha wires and a computer would be some high weirdness I can get behind.
*Sidenote: Anyone know how to change the default brower Jerboa on Android uses?
1-800-DRUIDIA
Not use it, as much as I don’t use all my other numbers
Never answer it unless they texted me first.
If I could, just use it for any and every single service that requires you to sign up using a phone number and don’t allow things like VoIP.
Otherwise, I ain’t got no use for it.
“Put that fork down. You can do it. The urge will go away in 30 minutes. Be strong. Wait a while. Eat an egg. Wait a while longer. Be strong. You are doing it. Love yourself being strong.”
Just use it as my phone number.
If it’s magically free, is it also magically permanent?
An audio-based SSH client, maybe. It could be used for good or evil, but at this point any open SSH connection is regularly targeted anyway. It’d be really neat to be able to do whatever computer task over an old landline or one of the remaining payphones.
Magically permanent if you want it to be/give some “Yes I’m still using it” feedback to the shadowy organization giving it to you. Otherwise it’s active for one year.
Oh, good. I was asking because otherwise it’s the sort of thing that they’d try to shut down the first time it was misused.
Play music over it, mostly metal.
I don’t care if someone gave it to me for free. I still wouldn’t call whatever number they gave me! For that matter, I wouldn’t pay them to give me a number either.
Assume you are given a 1-800 number for your own use - people can call it and reach whatever you set up (you directly, a voicemail box, a phone menu set up, a dialup connection, whatever). The number is free and your minutes are unlimited.
Would you use it? If so, what for?
No means no.
If it’s indeed no to what I’m describing here, it’s not an interesting answer, but it is an honest one. I can respect that.
