I don't know about anywhere else but around here the white pages have made the print so small even people with perfect eyesight need a magnifying glass to read it.

The guy on Burn Notice uses it to cheaply armor a car.

Is anyone really surprised by all of this kind of thing?

Time does not stand still. Technology affects the way we live. I mean I see all these older people(50+) saying newspaper and print media will make comeback. No, it wont(barring ww3). It will eventually disappear completely.
People were predicting this long before we even had a modern internet.

Most people I know weren't listed anyways. Most likely because they're either paranoid or don't like telemarketers.

If it wasn't for what seems like a monthly routine of carrying the new phone book straight from the mail box to the garbage can I wouldn't know such a thing still existed.

Kar98: If it wasn't for what seems like a monthly routine of carrying the new phone book straight from the mail box to the garbage can I wouldn't know such a thing still existed.

I'd love to opt out of the phone book. Never, ever use the thing anymore so all it is doing is cluttering up my recycle bin.

I haven't seen a new phone book in some amount of years, kinda forgot about them. Maybe I just don't get new ones because I don't have a landline phone?

They're great for my rabbits to chew on.

But oh, the mess they make tearing up that paper...

They should make it a crime for people to drop them on your doorstep.

As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online. I've tried. And I've failed.

Until a 100% awesome alternative comes out, I want a phone book.

/As a green guy, I'd love to see phone books go away, but it's just not time yet.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=phone+lookup

jake3988: As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online. I've tried. And I've failed.

Ummm, maybe www.whitepages.com? Just a thought.

jake3988: As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online. I've tried. And I've failed.

Until a 100% awesome alternative comes out, I want a phone book.

/As a green guy, I'd love to see phone books go away, but it's just not time yet.

Please tell me you haven't reproduced yet.

BILLY MAYS HERE FOR THE WHITE PAGES! LOOK, ARE YOU TIRED OF SEARCHING THROUGH COUNTLESS ROLODEX CARDS LOOKING FOR PHONE NUMBERS? TIRED OF LOOKING THROUGH COMPUTER FILES, PAPER FILES, EVEN THROUGH OLD MATCHBOOK COVERS OR BUSINESS CARDS? WELL THEN LOOK NO MORE!

WITH THE WHITE PAGES YOU GET MEN'S NAMES! WOMEN'S NAMES! YOUNG PEOPLE'S NAMES! SENIOR CITIZEN'S NAMES! EVEN FOREIGN NAMES! AND IT'S ALL ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY! WHAT COULD BE EASIER?

AND IF YOU CALL RIGHT NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE WHITE PAGES, WE'LL INCLUDE THE YELLOW PAGES ABSOLUTELY FREE! HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF NAMES AND NUMBERS OF BUSINESSES YOU WANT TO TALK TO, ALSO ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY BUSINESS TYPE! YOU WANT A CHINESE TAKE OUT? BOOM! RIGHT THERE! YOU NEED A PROCTOLOGIST? BAM! HERE'S A DOZEN OF THEM RIGHT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS... AND THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU!

AND IF YOU CALL IN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES, WE'LL ALSO INCLUDE THE GOVERNMENT PAGES! THAT'S RIGHT, RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK, YOU'LL GET A COMPLETE LIST OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE PHONE NUMBERS -- FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL! -- WITHOUT THE EMBARRASSMENT OF ACCIDENTALLY CALLING 9-1-1 FOR NON-EMERGENCIES!

SO RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR, YOU GET THE WHITE PAGES, THE YELLOW PAGES, AND THE GOVERNMENT PAGES! A $199 VALUE, FOR ONLY $19.95 PLUS SHIPPING! CALL NOW!

//RIP BILLY MAYS.

mud_shark: They should make it a crime for people to drop them on your doorstep.

Every whatever number of months, "they" drop off a number of updated phone books in the lobby of my apartment building. Conveniently, this drop spot is just a few feet away from the recycling bin.

I worked for Verizon Yellow Pages for 5 years, so I'm really getting a kick, yadda yadda...

After 9/11, Verizon's cellphone division skyrocketed. EVERYONE ran out to buy a cell phone and by now, if you don't have one, you're considered a dinosaur. Many people don't even have landlines anymore. I do, but only because I work from home 3 days a week, and the ringer is never on. My team & my clients all call me on the cell.

I slowly watched the yellow pages bleed cash during those 5 years, too. By the time Verizon sold the books to Idearc, they were barely turning a profit. Customers were canceling ads constantly, and rightly so. Nobody was using the book anymore.

Verizon saw the trend & launched Superpages.com, even selling websites for customers. 5-page custom-designed sites for $100/mo, hosted on Superpages.com & automatically listed on all the search engines. But the most surprising thing was that a lot of those businesses didn't have websites nor wanted them. It wasn't the price--they honestly didn't believe people would look for them online.

Not surprisingly, most of those customers have gone out of business.

Good Riddance.

My wife's aunt was absolutely shocked that we don't keep a yellow pages in the house. "But what if you need to look up a business?!?"

Teh internets FTW.

brigid_fitch: --they honestly didn't believe people would look for them online.

I have to admit, if I'm looking for a store, any store, and they don't have a web site with inventory/catalog, it actually pisses me off because I know that if I want to find out anything I'll have to call and have to deal with someone that usually is clueless, AND I'll probably end up wasting my time as I usually will end up with a "we don't have it/carry it". At least with a web site, I'd have an idea if it's worth my time to call.

Heck, I'd be happy with a web site built by a nephew using animated gifs. At least something...anything or better than nothing.

At one point there were 12 of those damn things in the house. (wife kept bringing them in from the porch) Three months ago, I purged them all when I realized we had not cracked one in a year.

I swear they must have a microchip in the damn thing though. In the 3 months since the purge, I have had 4 arrive on my doorstep.
THERE IS NO SIGNAL FROM THAT HOUSE!! SEND ANOTHER!! STAT!!

/I drop them all in the recycle.
//Makes me feel green

I still use the yellow pages. White pages are totally useless.

There's still a lot of companies that have no internet presence, and my local electronic yellow pages is useless. Probably so that the paper one would still be used.

We got new phone books dropped in front of our apartment door (indoor) about 6 months ago. And there they sat unmoved until last week. We moved and needed paper for packaging material.

So if you look someone up, it will be traceable to an IP.

I still use the white pages .

/When I run out of TP
// When I run out out of Kleenex
/// When I need a really big Rolling Paper

The "green" thing to do is just deliver the phone books to a common drop off spot (grocery store, post office, etc) and cut their production by a tenth. Mine go from the front porch (and now the mailbox) straight to the recycle bin.

Although, I will say that since I disconnected my landline, the number of phone books I receive has plummeted from 6 or 7 a year to 1 or 2. So I guess that's nice?

Anyway. Phone books suck. Kill them with fire.

jake3988: As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online.

You're not tech savvy then.

Kar98: jake3988: As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online.

You're not tech savvy then.

Seriously, it's really not that difficult. There are people who I have not been able to find online, but who's to say that I would be able to find those people in the white pages? They most likely do not want to be found.

jake3988: As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online. I've tried. And I've failed.

Seriously? I found my separated-from-infancy sister online. All I knew about her was her maiden name and a small town she lived in at some point in the early 90s. It took some work, but it's not all that hard. I didn't even have to pay for anything.

I find I still have to hit the book, since both Google Maps and Canada411.ca often fail for local businesses.

Without phone books what will we rip to prove manliness?

white pages? wtf? those went out of style with the dodo bird. Hell, even the yellow pages have been defunct for at least 10 years.

hamdingers: Without phone books what will we rip to prove manliness?

Old encyclopedias. Seriously, I have my old family Britannica - it hasn't been opened in over a decade, and it probably won't be opened for that much time again.

Pxtl: Old encyclopedias. Seriously, I have my old family Britannica - it hasn't been opened in over a decade, and it probably won't be opened for that much time again.

My dad's Americana doesn't even have the Moon landing in it, it's that old. I don't even know what we're going to do with it.

Until 411 is free, the phone book will still be useful. I'm not going to pay $.75 every time I want to look up a damn phone number.

jake3988: As tech savvy as I am, I've never been able to figure out a way to look up people online. I've tried. And I've failed.

Um, you find their homepage and send them an e-mail.

/pays 35 cents a month to NOT be listed in the phonebook

/but if you search for my name (the real one or the fake one) on google, you will easily be able to get in contact with me.

No Such Agency: Until 411 is free, the phone book will still be useful. I'm not going to pay $.75 every time I want to look up a damn phone number.

Have you heard of Google?

Kar98: No Such Agency: Until 411 is free, the phone book will still be useful. I'm not going to pay $.75 every time I want to look up a damn phone number.

Have you heard of Google?

My number is in the local phone book, it is not on the internet.
A business that isn't on the net where google can find it would be foolish though.

mansonozz: I haven't seen a new phone book in some amount of years, kinda forgot about them. Maybe I just don't get new ones because I don't have a landline phone?

I don't have a landline, they still throw the damn things in my driveway.

AnEvilGuest: Kar98: No Such Agency: Until 411 is free, the phone book will still be useful. I'm not going to pay $.75 every time I want to look up a damn phone number.

Have you heard of Google?

My number is in the local phone book, it is not on the internet.
A business that isn't on the net where google can find it would be foolish though.

Is your favorite writer Gene Wolfe and are you a wastewater specialist with CBCL?

PS:
Link (new window)

i mostly miss phone books
when i'm at a pay phone and need a business or government number

every frickin pay phone used to have one or both, white or yellow



/don't have a cellphone

mrEdude: every frickin pay phone used to have one or both, white or yellow

Wow, I haven't seen someone on a pay phone in ages

mud_shark: They should make it a crime for people to drop them on your doorstep.

You must be lucky. Here they drive around and toss them. One day it's the white pages an the yellow (different books) then there is another company that drops a smaller one off a few weeks later. After a few days I went to the recycling center and the one bin for paper was 1/2 full of these books.

/peels the fridge magnet off and tosses

castufari: mud_shark: They should make it a crime for people to drop them on your doorstep.

You must be lucky. Here they drive around and toss them. One day it's the white pages an the yellow (different books) then there is another company that drops a smaller one off a few weeks later. After a few days I went to the recycling center and the one bin for paper was 1/2 full of these books.

/peels the fridge magnet off and tosses

I guess I am lucky. One time I just let them stack up by my front door until the stack was almost 3 feet high - I figured maybe they'd take the hint that I wasn't going to touch them, but they would still drop them off.

And the magnets are so thin these days that they won't even hold up a photograph.

Kar98: AnEvilGuest: Kar98: No Such Agency: Until 411 is free, the phone book will still be useful. I'm not going to pay $.75 every time I want to look up a damn phone number.

Have you heard of Google?

My number is in the local phone book, it is not on the internet.
A business that isn't on the net where google can find it would be foolish though.

Is your favorite writer Gene Wolfe and are you a wastewater specialist with CBCL?


Wolfe yes as you might guess from this alt as well, wastewater specialist no, computer programmer actually

The white pages Things printed on paper are dying a slow (mostly) unnoticed death

FTFY, Subby.

Stile4aly: My wife's aunt was absolutely shocked that we don't keep a yellow pages in the house. "But what if you need to look up a business?!?"

Teh internets FTW.

look up a business == order pizza

I have never seen a phone book used for anything other than food.

I wonder if they could just send out listings of all the takeout/delivery places.

Fact Man: The white pages Things printed on paper are dying a slow (mostly) unnoticed death

FTFY, Subby.

Except for, you know, books.

/ebooks suck balls

The more we go digital, the less hard evidence of our society will be around for future generations. It's inevitable, I know. The momentum is too strong. But we're screwing ourselves by digitizing everything. 100, 200, 300, 1000 years from now, if society hasn't collapsed, the format of information will have changed so drastically that loss of data will be enormous. Not the loss of important things, like significant events in history, but the loss of little things, like family photos and movies, and evidence of real daily life.

Today, you could, say, buy and old house and stumble upon a forgotten trunk full of 50-year-old photographs, and that would be fascinating. 50 years from now, the same kind of workaday digital photos from today will likely be lost forever. They'll have been wiped off some ancient hard drive, or corrupted, or in a format that no longer exists.

If society does collapse, there will be far less evidence of the society of the 21st Century than there will be of the 20th. We know much more about the ancient Greeks and Romans than future archeologists will know about us.

/I'm gonna sing the doom song now

For some reason, I think I've received three copies of the yellow pages in the past year. I usually keep a copy in the car just in case... usually for finding food places. Haven't needed to use the white pages in several years.


EvilJordan

You owe me a new keyboard. I fancy myself pretty good at doing impressions, and even though I can't mimic his delivery perfectly, I can still hear it in my head as though he actually did an infomercial for the white pages.

100 Watt Walrus: The more we go digital, the less hard evidence of our society will be around for future generations. It's inevitable, I know. The momentum is too strong. But we're screwing ourselves by digitizing everything. 100, 200, 300, 1000 years from now, if society hasn't collapsed, the format of information will have changed so drastically that loss of data will be enormous. Not the loss of important things, like significant events in history, but the loss of little things, like family photos and movies, and evidence of real daily life.

Today, you could, say, buy and old house and stumble upon a forgotten trunk full of 50-year-old photographs, and that would be fascinating. 50 years from now, the same kind of workaday digital photos from today will likely be lost forever. They'll have been wiped off some ancient hard drive, or corrupted, or in a format that no longer exists.

If society does collapse, there will be far less evidence of the society of the 21st Century than there will be of the 20th. We know much more about the ancient Greeks and Romans than future archeologists will know about us.

/I'm gonna sing the doom song now

I make this point repeatedly in Kindle threads only to be called a Luddite.

I hear there are tons of data lost from the space program because it's on punchcards or on other otherwise inaccessible data formats.

Paper materials may crumble, but exist in a format that requires no machine to read.