01 Apr 20 Fantastic Facts about Phones

Ahoy! As we’re in the telephone answering business, we thought we knew it all when it came to phones. How wrong can you be? Here are a few interesting facts we have learned along the way:

1 – One in two people reading this blog are reading it on a mobile phone- you know if that’s you……

2- The first-ever phone call was between the telephone’s inventor, Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson. His words were “Mr. Watson, come here- I want to see you”. Not legendary words, but monumental all the same.

3 – Telephone operators in the very early days were young men but they were gradually changed for women because the ‘gentlemen’ were too flirty with the lady callers and played too many pranks!

4 – Alexander Graham Bell originally suggested ‘ahoy’ as the common phone greeting, but he was outvoted in favour of a simple ‘hello’.

5 – The first phone book, issued in 1878, was only 20 pages long.

6 – 555 is used as a fictional phone code in US movies to prevent confusion with people’s real numbers.

7 – Your mobile phone has more computing power than the computers used for the Apollo 11 moon landing.

8 – Ever since 2011, we human beings have been outnumbered on this planet by mobile phones. There are 2.71 billion smartphone users in the world today.

9 – Mobile phones have nearly 20 times more bacteria on them than the average flush button on a loo. Yuk!

10 – With 1.5 devices per person, wealthy Luxembourg is the country with the highest density of mobile phones, but even in the developing world you’re more likely to own a mobile than a toilet!

11 – Japan has its own mobile market with exclusive models unavailable in the West. In Japan 90% of mobiles are waterproof and it is pretty common to take them into the shower.

12 – The world’s best-selling mobile ever is the Nokia 1100, which was first launched in 2003, has sold over 350 million units. A true classic!

13 – The first mobile phone call was made in 1973 by Martin Cooper. He was an inventor, so surely appreciated the experience.

14 – Want a word to articulate your anger when you lose signal or lose your phone entirely? Relax- you’ve got nomophobia.

15 – What was Bond’s first mobile? Agent 007 went for an Ericsson JB988.

16 – Back in 1865 guess what Nokia used to produce? Nothing more technical than paper actually!

17 – 17 – In Estonia you can cast your vote in an election via phone. How very modern.

18 – 100,000 mobile phones are dropped down the toilet every year in Britain.

19 – We check our mobile phones about 150 times a day on average. Yes really! That’s every six minutes. Maybe that’s why so many ended up down the toilet!

20 – Want a catchy number? It might cost you. The priciest phone number ever sold was mobile phone number 666-6666, which was won in a Qatari auction for a jaw-dropping $2.7 million. The equally catchy Chinese number 8888-8888 sold for $280,000. The number 8 is considered lucky in China.

To get your phone answered in the proper style (no ‘ahoys’ and definitely no pranks), call us on 0118 9778599, or enquire to news@mantleltd.com. We’re not just about phones- we would love to connect with you on Twitter, too.  Send us a tweet @Mantleltd