>Zip code could be used either for demographics or for credit card validation or both. I have no problem with that. And I agree, no phone number. If they insist on that, I give them 555-1212.
Speaking of which, isn't it just about time the detective's cell phone in a TV series rang, and the caller would be a character from another movie, series or whatever - even from a competing network - with a total of four digits available, I think the manufacturers of moving images have long ago exhausted their address space. It's about time we saw it affect their universe for real.