Did You Ever Wonder Why The Numbers On Phones And Calculators Are Opposite?

Phones and calculators are devices that many use on a daily basis and the two share quite a few similarities when it comes to their layout, including:

• Ten numbers
• The zero button below the rest
• Three-by-three arrangement

However, there is one notable difference between phones and calculators and it’s one that has boggled many, the numbers are reversed.

There doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer as the makers of the devices did little to document their decision making process, but there are theories exist that have interesting ideas on the matter.

Bell Laboratories introduced push-button dialing as an alternative to the rotary telephone back in the 1960s.

However, how to arrange the numbers was something that researchers had to decipher. The two models that most likely factored into this decision was the circular dial and counterclockwise number arrangement of the existing rotary phone and the calculator’s reverse arrangement.

One popular theory was that the phone company intentionally reversed the calculator configuration so that those who had already adapted to operating calculators would slow down when it comes to dialing.

The reason it was thought that the intentions of this reversal were to slow users down was because slower dialing would allow the signals of the phone to register. However, this theory has been proven to be untrue.

Via          www.providr.com/why-the-numbers-on-cell-phones-are-different.html