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+--- Thread: Great Woz Story (/showthread.php?tid=4074)
Great Woz Story - Zoidberg - 02-08-2006
from http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=1408908
Among his other activities, Woz collects phone numbers, and his longtime goal has been to acquire a number with seven matching digits... after more months of scheming and waiting, he had it: 888-8888. This was his new cell-phone number, and his greatest philonumerical triumph.
The number proved unusable. It received more than a hundred wrong numbers a day. Given that the number is virtually impossible to misdial, this traffic was baffling. More strange still, there was never anybody talking on the other end of the line. Just silence. Or, not silence really, but dead air, sometimes with the sound of a television in the background, or somebody talking softly in English or Spanish, or bizarre gurgling noises. Woz listened intently.
Then, one day, with the phone pressed to his ear, Woz heard a woman say, at a distance, "Hey, what are you doing with that?" The receiver was snatched up and slammed down.
Suddenly, it all made sense: the hundreds of calls, the dead air, the gurgling sounds. Babies. They were picking up the receiver and pressing a button at the bottom of the handset. Again and again. It made a noise: "Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep."
The children of America were making their first prank call.
And the person who answered the phone was Woz.
Re: Great Woz Story - Donkey Hotay - 02-08-2006
Be careful what you wish for; you may get it.
Re: Great Woz Story - Refurbvirgin - 02-08-2006
When I got my first mac I dialed 1-800-APPL (back when help was free) but missed a key and got a dial-a-porn outfit. I always wondered if the porn guys requested a number so close to Apple's anticipating they'd get lots of calls without having to advertise.
Re: Great Woz Story - BigGuynRusty - 02-08-2006
Refurbvirgin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I got my first mac I dialed 1-800-APPL (back
> when help was free) but missed a key and got a
> dial-a-porn outfit. I always wondered if the porn
> guys requested a number so close to Apple's
> anticipating they'd get lots of calls without
> having to advertise.
You actually dialed 800-S zero S-APPLE, instead of S Oh S APPLE.
BGnR
Re: Great Woz Story - Jim Williams - 02-08-2006
Thanks for sharing.
Re: Great Woz Story - ArtP - 02-09-2006
BigGuynRusty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Refurbvirgin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When I got my first mac I dialed 1-800-APPL
> (back
> > when help was free) but missed a key and got
> a
> > dial-a-porn outfit. I always wondered if the
> porn
> > guys requested a number so close to Apple's
> > anticipating they'd get lots of calls
> without
> > having to advertise.
>
> You actually dialed 800-S zero S-APPLE, instead of
> S Oh S APPLE.
> BGnR
800-S zero S-APPLE
That number still works, try it.
Re: Great Woz Story - BigGuynRusty - 02-09-2006
ArtP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BigGuynRusty Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Refurbvirgin Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > When I got my first mac I dialed
> 1-800-APPL
> > (back
> > > when help was free) but missed a key and
> got
> > a
> > > dial-a-porn outfit. I always wondered if
> the
> > porn
> > > guys requested a number so close to
> Apple's
> > > anticipating they'd get lots of calls
> > without
> > > having to advertise.
> >
> > You actually dialed 800-S zero S-APPLE,
> instead of
> > S Oh S APPLE.
> > BGnR
>
>
> 800-S zero S-APPLE
>
> That number still works, try it.
>
S ZERO S will get you the porno line, S Oh (Letter) S will get you Apple, just like I said. And the Apple support line still works to.
BGnR
Re: Great Woz Story - SteveJobs - 02-09-2006
they do that on PURPOSE. Just like URLs that try to catch the typos