I'm like you - numbers are just hard. (it gets worse across languages, too). My husband on the other hand can remember numbers real well

I had problems at school as long as most of it was memorisation based - i had trouble remembering vocabulary lists (made worse by the fact that i already knew the words, i think), math and science formulas, all these things that have no pattern or justification or them, that are arbitrary (math and science became easier once things were derived from principles, but i never could remember the constants beyond 1 or 2 digits). The same goes today for the details of programming languages/commands etc.

I on the other hand have an excellent memory for things that are not arbitrary - text of plays, music and songs, scientific derivations - and for larger picture elements. And stories (i cant tell you what the exact syntax is for something in python but i can tell you stories around python, zope, how we built what, problems we had and the time i just deleted the database and rebuilt it from the copy that was in memory)

And that is the problem with passwords, they have to be arbitrary to be secure. But arbitrary (for me) means forgotten unless there is a pattern of derivation that I can remember. A song, a rhyme, a proverb, a book title...

You would be amazed how much of those "turntables" are still in active use. The mechanics behind it is a sure masterpiece, because I know for a fact that my father still uses the same phone he bought over 30 years ago and it still works without any glitch.

Furthermore, I worked on military bases and also there you can still find a lot of those phones.  

Writing this text made me realize there is another very good reason why the switch was made: International calls.
Don't know what it is in Denmark but you have to dial 00(country access code)-(netarea without the preceding 0)-(phone number)-(extension) in Holland.

It is too easy to call internationally unintentionally. Furthermore, it takes too long for an international rescue team to save your behind from whatever peril it is facing (generally speaking of course).

Personally, it is easier for me to remember a multi-digit number that has broken sequences (555555 or 55655), also when verbally communicating a number the latter number from my example is easier. The speaking is not so much the problem, the other person that has to 'hear' the numbers (especially in a hurry/panicked/whatever) and dialing the number correctly in the first try is.