You must remember this ... that and the other

The new, longer phone numbers, which apply from Saturday, are just another thing to remember, alongside mobile numbers, e-mail addresses, PIN numbers, computer passwords and so on.

You could almost set your calendar by it. The phone number change that comes into effect on Saturday is, for millions of people, the third such overhaul in 10 years.

In Cardiff, Coventry, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth, Southampton and London, old numbers will be stretched by an extra one or two digits. In London the change will create capacity for another 64 million numbers.

The last major number modification was in 1995 when a "1" was added to all national codes.

Code areas and numbers

London: old code - 0171; new code - 020+7

London: old code - 0181; new code - 020+8

Portsmouth: old code - 01705; new code - 023+92

Southampton: old code - 01703; new code - 023+80

Coventry: old code - 01203; new code - 024+76

Cardiff: old code - 01222; new code - 029+20

Northern Ireland: old code - 01232 etc; new code - 028+various

Five years earlier, Londoners had to put up with another upheaval when the "01" code was broken down into "071" and "081".

Unfortunately, the latest changes are not the end of the story. Millions of mobile numbers are set to change by next year and there are no assurances it will stop there.

Already, pundits are predicting a period of transitional chaos for this weekend.

The latest survey suggested only one in eight residential customers in the affected areas knew the date of the changeover or could state their new number.

And many people will feel their brains are crammed enough without having to re-learn a whole new set of numbers.

One little-realised side effect of the communications revolution is the sheer amount of information we are now asked to remember.

Once we only had to recall addresses and phone numbers. Today we must add e-mail addresses, office extension numbers, postcodes, fax numbers, paging IDs, website addresses, PIN numbers, mobile numbers - the list goes on.

Register with a website? Then remember your password

Using a computer only adds to the burden, with the numerous logins and passwords demanded by software applications and internet sites.

No wonder the Federation for Small Businesses is worried about our ability to memorise the new phone numbers.

It believes traders could lose out because Londoners calling from within the capital will have to remember an extra digit when hearing an advert on the radio.

"The longer the phone number, the less chance the listener will remember it," a spokesman said.

Small businesses will suffer more because they lack the resources to give prominence to the new numbers.

Too much information

Certainly, there is evidence to suggest many people are already close to breaking point.

Last year, The New York Times estimated more than 1,000 people forgot their password to the newspaper's website each week, and 10 to 15% of its registrants were duplicates.

Despite a big campaign, many people are unaware of the number change

A report by IT analysts Gartner Group said absent-minded employees cost money. The company found an employer with 2,500 desktop computers can spend more than £500,000 a year resetting passwords.

Research by Compaq found that up to 50% of help desk calls are from employees who have forgotten their passwords.

Of course, no one is expected to learn all their phone numbers, e-mail addresses, passwords and the like off by heart. They can always be scribbled down in a notebook, but bearing in mind the frequency with which they change, this can make for messy pages.

Store it up

A solution people are increasingly turning to is a PDA - personal digital assistant - such as those made by Psion and its American rival, Palm. These are ideal for storing snippets of information and data can be quickly edited.

The PDA market is expected to swell to 14 million sales annually by 2003.

But for some, the thought of more computing power means only one thing - having to learn yet more passwords and logins.