I guess they were a Good Idea At The Time – but last week I ran afoul of a phone number expressed as a word. It must have been the heat.
It strikes me that smart phones and speed dial have made these mnemonics into communication tools well past their prime.
There I was in downtown Vancouver, late and hoping to pay for parking with my cell phone. The number to dial: 604 662-PARK. As with most smart phones the number pad on my Blackberry Curve does not include corresponding letters.
Again with the heat, I emailed Verrus, the service-provider, to inform them they’d just missed out on my 30 cent user fee and to rant a bit. Their customer care man was right on it. He called my concern “valid” and said he would be informing their parking vendors and sign-makers. A small victory.
On the other hand, if you take the can’t-beat-’em-join-’em approach go to http://www.phonepeople.com/spell and turn your existing phone number into a word. Call me at PEAR 035 if you get a good one!
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