Google changed its requirements for a new Gmail account. Here’s what Google says:

If you’d like to sign up for a Gmail address, you need to have a mobile phone that has text-messaging capabilities.
If you don’t have a phone, you may want to ask a friend if you can use his or her number to receive a code.

The main reason for this seems to be spam prevention. I’m glad I already have a Gmail account because I hate to go through some extra steps. Google also says that it stores “each phone number to make sure it is used to create a limited number of accounts.” I hope this method will work but I’m not too keen on yet another entity storing cell phone numbers, which is more private than land phones. Google does assure that “your number will never be sold or shared for marketing purposes without your permission, nor will we contact you using this number without your express permission.”