Phones and Calculators

Arn0t

Thread Junky
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
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Have you ever noticed that on a phone the numbers read from 1 starting on the top left and 9 ending on the bottom right, and on a calculator the number 1 starting at the bottom left and 9 on top right? So i got to thinking after randomly thinking about this this, and i was wondering why this was? Anybody gots any insight to my misfortunes?
 
I actually had to open the calculator to look ;)

Just to add to your confusion, the num pad on your keyboard is laid out the same was as the calculator. ;)
 
It's so you can't call somebody on your calculator or do math on your phone.

When then phone system was just starting going digital that the operators would get upset trying to explain why there wasn't addition/subtraction/etc keys on a person's phone.
 
Calculators have them in that order because if you ever take a computing finance course, you learn how to use the keypad just like you learn to use the home row technique on the qwerty keyboard. I can type in numbers in around 300 digits per minute using the 456 home row.

Its like that on the phone because phones, invented in the US, have a calling code of 1 before the number. Psychological research shows that people can see the 1 better and make the connection to type it first in a phone number if it is in the upper left.

Ah, research.
 

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