Tech Entrepreneurs Have 212 Area Code Lust

Even in our technologically abundant world, scarcity remains. Caroline Waxler reports on the half-silly, half-interesting trend of New York entrepreneurs trying to acquire (or proudly noting or lusting after) 212 area coded phone numbers. eBay, apparently, does a brisk business in 212 numbers, and there is even a dedicated reseller website (212areacode.com). I guess it's just another way that tech entrepreneurs are like rappers (504 Boyz, anyone?).

The most coveted accessory in New York's tech scene isn't a new iPad app or an invitation to a private beta. It's a status symbol that comes from the city's analog age -- something that evokes the days of egg creams and subway tokens, not Silicon Alley: a 212 area code...

"A 212 can also make it seem like you are an early adopter -- like you had a cell before they even devoted area codes to them. They are a conversation piece," says Allison Mooney, a media and marketing theorist at Omnicom's MobileBehavior. She adds: "Since your phone number is quite literally your calling card, those numbers can say a lot about you and connote a certain savvy,"

Read the full story at Metropolis on The Wall Street Journal.