Area Codes, Now Divorced From Their Areas

Sort of as a follow up to a recent posting of mine, the NYT has
an article about the changing nature of area codes and the consequences of such a change.

I still like the idea, if only so that I don’t have to change numbers. As the article states, numbers now connect people, not places. So, why then, should the numbers change? I want to have the same email address for the rest of my life. Why not the same phone number?