And if it’s longer than 8 digits, just stop.
1-900-737-ATARI
1-900-737-ATAR
Comment on How gamers were nickel and dimed in 80s and 90s (besides arcades)
DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
You just press the number that has the letter, regardless of the letter was in the beginning or the end, you just press the number wherever that letter is. Image
shalafi@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
danielton1@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Fun fact, it’s a carryover from when dial service was first implemented in the United States!
In the beginning, you’d pick up the phone and hear “Number please?” and then you’d tell the operator the central office name followed by the number, like “Bubbling Brook 3-2468” or “Murray Hill 5-9975”
Once dial service was implemented, you’d instead hear the dial tone and then dial the first two letters of the office name, followed by the rest of the number (BU32468 or MU59975), using this arrangement of letters.
Once phone numbers went to all-digits around 1961, the letters on the dial got repurposed for numbers like these. Of course, they got repurposed again for T9 texting and contact search.
AT&T has an old video about this topic