For the thread that could be a mailing list on its own: I've noticed a funny effect on reading out numbers in different languages. I'm from the Netherlands and here we say 'eight-and-twenty' (achtentwintig) for the number 28. In English, you'd say twenty-eight. This reverse reading is also in German, but not in French. It differs from language to language.
After spending half a year in an English speaking country, I noticed that after I came back I had difficulties writing down numbers like this when someone said them to me. This audio-to-written-conversion task was difficult for my brain since it was confused whether to use the English or Dutch reading. I experienced this not only with telephone numbers but also when writing down numbers from laboratory test in university when someone else would read out the measurements of the devices. However, paying in a shop when someone would read out the price of something is not a problem at all. I asked more people that stayed abroad for a longer period of time where a language is spoken that also interchanges the reading of the numbers, if they had the same challenges and some did. So when someone says to me, my (eight digit) telephone number is twenty-eight thirty-four ninety-seven fifty-four, for me, this is not brain friendly and usually I asked them to read it out like two eight, etcetera. However, when I have to remember a short number of four digits, like a postcode, e.g. twenty-four ninety-five, I have no problem, because this is mapped into the money domain, just like a price of something. The "tell sell" doctrine. ;) Do some of you have the same experience? I would like to suggest not to use this in reading out telephone numbers, even though this might be your national way of writing/saying these things. Usually there is not a sound information ergonomic reason behind it. More the history of how the numbers grew larger in a certain country. The brain is perfectly capable of remembering longer groups of digits. Take for example 2314 7869 this is faster and easier processed by the brain than 23 14 78 69 Regards, Pander _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community