I found this in my blogging notes—I'm not quite sure when I made the note, but it might have been when we were Internetless here at Casa New Jersey. Anyway:
From now on, whenever somebody dials your new uninumber, all of your phones ring simultaneously, like something out of “The Lawnmower Man.”
No longer will anyone have to track you down by dialing each of your numbers in turn. No longer does it matter if you're home, at work or on the road. Your new GrandCentral phone number will find you.
Via Instapundit [1], “One Number That Will Ring All Your Phones [2]”
I can see that being handy. Not for me, mind you, but for Smirk, so I no longer have to dial first his cell phone, then his office phone, then his home number when I'm trying to reach the man. Me? I'd hate to have this. Then again, I only have a cell phone number (the phone at Casa New Jersey? Only exists for DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) because the Monopolistic Phone Company demands we have it for DSL).
Now, riffing off this, cell phones used to be a status symbol. “Look at me, I'm so important and I make so much money, I can carry a phone with me at all times.” Now that everyone, even kids, have cell phones? And everyone (especially with this service) can be reached 24/7? Look for the powerful and rich to hire people to answer their phones. “Look at me. I'm so important and I make so much money, I can carry a person with me all the time to answer my phone.”
I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.
[1] http://instapundit.com/archives2/003341.php
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/technology/15pogue.html?ex=1331611200