Despite the rise of the internet, the 10-digit telephone number remains an ubiquitous and all-encompassing method of communication. But it hasn't been that long since human operators were responsible for completing telephone calls, andThe Atlantic has put together a look at how the 10-digit number rose to prominence in the middle of the last century. Beyond the historical journey, the piece also digs deep into the cultural significance that area codes have taken on over the past decades. ""Of course we didn't know it at the time, but now it seems that the atomization of area codes was a prelude to the microtargeting that fuels political campaigns and advertising: it refined our perceptions of who people are," Brian Bergstein of the MIT Technology Review told The Atlantic. For the whole read on the area code's rise to power, read the whole story here.