Phone Books Going Extinct, Finally

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eddieroolz

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It will probably still continue in Canada, but I'm sure no one really uses it anymore. We have it delivered but that's because it apparently isn't able to opt-out. Last time I've ever used it was 8 years ago.
 

alidan

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i have a phone book, it covers the 20 closest places to where i live. granted i never use it to look people up but i do use the yellow pages.

i honestly cant imagine a world without yellow pages, and some physical means of looking crap like this up, because electronics die, and some point, they always do. if my computer died, i would need the yellow pages to look up at the very least a place to fix it. because no mater how compatant i am, i cant diagnose a mother board fail, cpu fail, ram fail or graphics card fail without some means of display.
 

Silmarunya

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Same thing going on in Europe, but it's on an opt-out basis here. Untick a button at the supplier's site and you no longer receive it.

I prefer Verizon's system though, as many people are probably to lazy to opt out...
 

Silmarunya

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[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]i have a phone book, it covers the 20 closest places to where i live. granted i never use it to look people up but i do use the yellow pages.i honestly cant imagine a world without yellow pages, and some physical means of looking crap like this up, because electronics die, and some point, they always do. if my computer died, i would need the yellow pages to look up at the very least a place to fix it. because no mater how compatant i am, i cant diagnose a mother board fail, cpu fail, ram fail or graphics card fail without some means of display.[/citation]

I assume you remember the location of the place where you bought your computer? Because they tend to help you with that sort of things...

And even if that's an issue, how big is the chance that:
- You only have 1 PC AND
- You don't have a PC at work AND
- You don't have a friend who will let you use his PC for a minute?

Pretty much near zero.

 

Mottamort

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I need to remember this is in the U.S., where every PC is ASSUMED to have internet access. My home still doesn't, so looking up addresses and numbers for surnames (and finding out the number of the pizza place) is still something the phonebook is perfect for. Luckily I don't see it dying out here yet :)

R.I.P. American phonebook :)
 

adamboy64

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Phone books over where I live are still fairly big..

They're a big source of advertising and revenue for a lot of companies -
will probably take a while for them to fade away here.
 

Travis Beane

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I never use the white pages, but I do use the yellow pages.
The last few times have all been for pizza, cabs and a plumber.

They certainly are useful to have, but damn, that's a lot of wasted paper for something I use once every few months.
 
A lot of people still do use the yellow pages. Especially older people that do not think of the internet first, trust their ability to search, or just don't use computers.

As for the white pages I can understand that. Even when their only was phone books for finding numbers I hardly ever used those. Most people choose to be unlisted which drops the effectiveness.
 

nrgx

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There is 411 to cover white pages for the case where you don't have some kind of access to the internet. Some phone companies charge for 411, though. Hmm... I wonder how much the phone companies would save if they stopped printing the phone books and instead let anyone and everyone use 411 for free? I bet it would be significant, and the obvious plus is the environment for not using so much paper, the fuel used to distribute the paper, and the fuel used to take the paper that hardly no one wants to the recycler or even worse the landfill. I hope those states that allowed the whitepages to go away forced the phone companies to stop charging for 411. I bet they didn't. The government is usually too stupid to think that far ahead unless it affects a senator's bank account.
 

idisarmu

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[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]i have a phone book, it covers the 20 closest places to where i live. granted i never use it to look people up but i do use the yellow pages.i honestly cant imagine a world without yellow pages, and some physical means of looking crap like this up, because electronics die, and some point, they always do. if my computer died, i would need the yellow pages to look up at the very least a place to fix it. because no mater how compatant i am, i cant diagnose a mother board fail, cpu fail, ram fail or graphics card fail without some means of display.[/citation]

What are the odds of your computer, smartphone, and game console breaking at the same time? Probably very slim. You can get internet access at many public places anyway... and unless you're a total asshole, I'm sure your neighbours wouldn't mind if you had to use their computer for 15 minutes once every 5 years.
 

DXRick

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[citation][nom]edilee[/nom]I use the phone books, both yellow and white, to look up businesses and people almost everyday. If they stop publishing them it will definately slow the process since I can look it up faster in the book than cranking up the PC and finding a legitimate site to search for it.[/citation]

I still use mine too. It's still quicker than using the internet to find numbers for local businesses.

I still have a land line phone too.
 

bv90andy

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[citation][nom]Silmarunya[/nom]I assume you remember the location of the place where you bought your computer? Because they tend to help you with that sort of things...And even if that's an issue, how big is the chance that:- You only have 1 PC AND- You don't have a PC at work AND- You don't have a friend who will let you use his PC for a minute?Pretty much near zero.[/citation]
Add to that
4. Internet on your phone, even if you don't have 3g and a smartphone, you can still use your "old" phone to search an address.
 

bv90andy

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[citation][nom]Stickywulf[/nom]How will the 21% of Americans who don't have internet access find their phone numbers?http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Americ [...] -7765.html[/citation]
call the information line? In europe pretty much every phone company has a number you can call to ask for someones number, some are even free.
 

LordConrad

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I use my phone book (both color pages) often. I'm not always by my computer when I need a number, and my phone book is, by a strange coincidence, right by my telephone.
 

jj463rd

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I still get these annoying phone books.I'll be glad when all books disappear along with libraries and
librarians (obsolete just like that Twilight Zone episode the Obsolete Man).
 
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