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Who Uses a Physical Phonebook Anymore?

Rexedgar

Rexedgar

Yo-Semite!
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I was out in the yard for a while today, Sunday, and noticed what appeared to be trash in the driveway. The house is off a busy secondary road and there are slobs weekly who decide our house needs soda/beer cans, fast food wrappers and all many of other trash as yard ornaments. When I went out to collect the trash, turns out it is an honest to goodness telephone book. Delivered on a Sunday, no less! I am not the most tech savvy person, but I cannot tell when the last time I searched for a phone number on something other than a PC/tablet/phone. Anyone use a phonebook anymore?

I guess if I had a business it would make sense to list there.......

Rant/off
 
Rexedgar said:
I was out in the yard for a while today, Sunday, and noticed what appeared to be trash in the driveway. The house is off a busy secondary road and there are slobs weekly who decide our house needs soda/beer cans, fast food wrappers and all many of other trash as yard ornaments. When I went out to collect the trash, turns out it is an honest to goodness telephone book. Delivered on a Sunday, no less! I am not the most tech savvy person, but I cannot tell when the last time I searched for a phone number on something other than a PC/tablet/phone. Anyone use a phonebook anymore?

I guess if I had a business it would make sense to list there.......

Rant/off
Click to expand...

Same with a newspaper. I saw a guy delivering them the other day and wondered to myself. "Why on earth would anyone still get one of those?"
 
Rexedgar said:
I was out in the yard for a while today, Sunday, and noticed what appeared to be trash in the driveway. The house is off a busy secondary road and there are slobs weekly who decide our house needs soda/beer cans, fast food wrappers and all many of other trash as yard ornaments. When I went out to collect the trash, turns out it is an honest to goodness telephone book. Delivered on a Sunday, no less! I am not the most tech savvy person, but I cannot tell when the last time I searched for a phone number on something other than a PC/tablet/phone. Anyone use a phonebook anymore?

I guess if I had a business it would make sense to list there.......

Rant/off
Click to expand...

The only one I’ve seen in the last couple years is a yellow pages business book. Seems the residential one has gone extinct.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Just got one the other day. "I can't believe they still make these things".
It went directly into the recycle bin.
 
Rexedgar said:
I was out in the yard for a while today, Sunday, and noticed what appeared to be trash in the driveway. The house is off a busy secondary road and there are slobs weekly who decide our house needs soda/beer cans, fast food wrappers and all many of other trash as yard ornaments. When I went out to collect the trash, turns out it is an honest to goodness telephone book. Delivered on a Sunday, no less! I am not the most tech savvy person, but I cannot tell when the last time I searched for a phone number on something other than a PC/tablet/phone. Anyone use a phonebook anymore?

I guess if I had a business it would make sense to list there.......

Rant/off
Click to expand...

I still use them on occasion as the "results tend to be better" than what I normally get looking online.
 
It has been a couple years. And I think even then it was because I was at a hotel in a small remote town with crappy wifi and no 3G or LTE data signal. I used it to see what restaurants were in the are.
 
Last edited:
Skeptic Bob said:
It has been a couple years. And I think even then it was because I was at a hotel in a small remote town with crappy wife and no 3G or LTE data signal. I used it to see what restaurants were in the are.
Click to expand...

I hope you meant to type wifi.:wink3:
 
Haven't used one in so long, I don't even remember when I stopped.

The post office keeps on delivering them every year still, and it goes straight into the recycling bin.
 
I do. There’s one guy in TEXAS City TEXAS who gets mad when you call him. He’s listed as “ I P Freely “
 
Skeptic Bob said:
LOL

Autocorrect has been killing me the past two days here. Earlier it changed “most of” to “Maoist” and “desegregate” to “desecrate”.
Click to expand...


In some areas these words are interchangeable.............:shock:
 
Can't remember the last time I saw one let alone used it.

I kinda/sorta remember there being some regulation from way back that said the telcos had to produce and distribute them. Since I haven't gotten one in ages I'm guessing that's not the case anymore.
 
Gaius46 said:
Can't remember the last time I saw one let alone used it.

I kinda/sorta remember there being some regulation from way back that said the telcos had to produce and distribute them. Since I haven't gotten one in ages I'm guessing that's not the case anymore.
Click to expand...

I think they still publish them but in many places they no longer deliver them door to door. They will drop them off at a central place that people can go pick them up, like a Post Office.
 
As a business owner, I can explain this.

The yellow pages still make money on advertising. They convince business owners (especially older ones) that the yellow pages are a tool to promote their business. In order to make that sale, they rely heavily on how many people still get the book. They say that it gets in front of hundreds of thousands of people. This is only true if they print them and drop them off everywhere. Far more get destroyed than used, but they still got to those people.

As long as enough advertisers fall for this, they will keep printing and dropping these paper bricks off all over the place.
 
PhoneBooks and those nice paper maps that used to be handed out with boxes on the sides filled with adverts are dead man walking.

I have not kept a phonebook in a decade, have not used one in far longer than that.

They get smaller and smaller every year.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
I think they still publish them but in many places they no longer deliver them door to door. They will drop them off at a central place that people can go pick them up, like a Post Office.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the state. Here in NY, you can order one and they will deliver it
 
Keridan said:
As a business owner, I can explain this.

The yellow pages still make money on advertising. They convince business owners (especially older ones) that the yellow pages are a tool to promote their business. In order to make that sale, they rely heavily on how many people still get the book. They say that it gets in front of hundreds of thousands of people. This is only true if they print them and drop them off everywhere. Far more get destroyed than used, but they still got to those people.

As long as enough advertisers fall for this, they will keep printing and dropping these paper bricks off all over the place.
Click to expand...

......and, iirc, the ads are billed monthly with the business phone bill!?
 
I haven't used one in years, but I still get one every year.

I have to think that running ads in the phone book don't have a very good ROI.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
PhoneBooks and those nice paper maps that used to be handed out with boxes on the sides filled with adverts are dead man walking.

I have not kept a phonebook in a decade, have not used one in far longer than that.

They get smaller and smaller every year.
Click to expand...

Paper junk mail? It's kindling, bird cage liner, even packing material for shipping.
But I'd gladly sacrifice it if it means the Post Office doesn't have to deliver it to my mailbox anymore.

Nope, have not used a phone book in DECADES. I stopped because in 2003 I placed my very last Yellow Pages ad for my editing services.
I got ZERO calls that year from it, which is when I realized how useless paper phone books really were.
I know that I got zero calls from it because I'd set up a phone number ONLY listed in the Yellow Pages ad.
And I got plenty of work that year. (enough to turn away some jobs)
 
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