White Pages Face Last Call: Residential Phone Books' Days Are Numbered

[marmar]

AP, via HuffPost:




RICHMOND, Va. — What's black and white and read all over? Not the white pages, which is why regulators have begun granting telecommunications companies the go-ahead to stop mass-printing residential phone books, a musty fixture of Americans' kitchen counters, refrigerator tops and junk drawers.

In the past month alone, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania approved Verizon Communications Inc.'s request to quit distributing residential white pages. Residents in Virginia have until Nov. 19 to provide comments on a similar request pending with state regulators.

Telephone companies argue that most consumers now check the Internet rather than flip through pages when they want to reach out and touch someone.

"Anybody who doesn't have access to some kind of online way to look things up now is probably too old to be able to read the print in the white pages anyway," joked Robert Thompson, a pop culture professor at Syracuse University. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/11/white-pages-face-last-cal_n_782019.html

[MadHound]

1. More dumbassery

I use the phone book all the time. Even if I didn't live in the country where internet connections are slow, the phone book is still faster than turning on the computer, turning on the broadband and going to look up the number on the web.

Not to mention the fact that around half the people in this country don't have home access to the internet, what are they supposed to do?

More stupidity, more greed from corporate America.

[hlthe2b]

5. I see your point, but few people I know are even listed any more...

:shrug: I guess we are all supposed to pay those "search" fees online to find people by cell phone.

[AsahinaKimi]

2. curious

I wonder how many trees go towards making these books that are made by the millions each year.

[niyad]

3. don't forget how much revenue is generated by all those directory assitance calls.

[hlthe2b]

4. Time that is way past due...

End of an era as fewer people even have land phones. I haven't in years.

[Kalyke]

6. I haven't used a phone book in years.

In fact, I hate that they leave it at my house. I wish they would send a note before they plop them all over everyone's neighborhood with a number to call if you don't want one. I'll save a tree and look up my contact online.