About time. I literally can’t remember the last time I used one.
As of today, businesses and individuals can opt out of receiving paper-based phone books in the mail using a new Website called the National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt Out Site.
Last month, we wrote about a study showing that nearly 70% of adults in the United States “rarely or never” use the phone book, and instead opt to use the Web-based search tools, which are infinitely more convenient and efficient.
[…]
To opt out of recieving the phone book on your door, head to www.yellowpagesoptout.com and register for the site.
I have old phone books next to my stove. I use it as drip paper to degrease bacon, burgers and what not. Real handy, and I don’t even taste the ink.
Oh great, so now I’ll have to start buying toilet paper?
They make good doorstops.
I still remember when France opted not to print phone books and gave everybody living in France a MiniTel terminal (back in the eighties.)
France had a working internet infrastructure ten+ years before the web was, uh, discovered by America.
And they did it s save money.
Back in my day we had to look up a phone number in a book! A book I say! Now, get off my lawn!
#1, bobo, shut up.
Nobody reads you unless they’re nu-bees because they cant tell yet that you’re just a troll.
You contribute nothing to any post.
I learn nothing from your posts. I get nothing to follow up on, no links, no fun, just a yawning vacuum.
As far as I’m concerned, you can use the last phone book in America to light your apartment for one last blaze.
“MiniTel”
HAHAHAHAHA!
“MiniTel”
It was as if the US Federal Government owned AOL and they forced everyone to use it as their sole way to get online in 1995, only more controlling and more primitive.
Peepod–just because everybody agrees with you doesn’t mean you are right. But I do see my recent support for Alfie may now become suspect.
((Can’t find his stupid dance photo or I’d RickRoll you right here. Rats! Alfie disappoints again.))
just within the last month I needed to use the phone book to find the phone number of an old acquaintance whose advice I needed. Tried to find her on the net and was unable. Found her in seconds in the phone book. For all the brouhaha over how they’re not needed – they still are.
I haven’t seen a paper phone book since the mid-90s.
I noticed I don’t even use phone numbers anymore. I just tap on the picture of the person I want to communicate and I can choose between calling or texting them. Facebook somehow makes it so I can connect to them on my phone.
For businesses, I just google them and tap on the phone number in the google search.
My phone books? They make a telephone table which I use to hold up my landline phone. It has no service, but it can be used to call 911 in an emergency.
#10: The entire phone book is online
http://yellowpages.com/
I use them all the time.. They’re great monitor stands.
#10 – true, so true.
Plus, they are an invaluable research resource.
My local library has every phone book back to the 50’s. You can find where businesses or people were located.
Not so easy on the ‘net.
KMFIX I hear that, I’ve been using them to prop my monitor up to eye level for year. I bet Steve jobs would bust a nut if he saw his hardware resting on them.
I wait eagerly for the phone book arrival. I go around to my neighbours and ask for theirs. They are always so willing to give them to me.
Yellow Book, damn fine kindling.
Cursor_
Bobbo,
I use the heels from loaves of bread to soak up bacon grease. When I’m done I toss it to the outdoor dog. He loves it and that extra bit of fat doesn’t hurt in this cold weather.
…
I use my Yellow Pages occasionally. Recently I was looking for a local place I could take our scrap pop cans (the wife is addicted to Diet Pepsi). Searching on-line was too onerous trying to filter out the places that weren’t local. (I’m not driving 50 miles to cash in $20 worth of cans)
The sheeple put them on their shelves to look ‘book smart’
I tried this, it didn’t work. Having exhausted all means to stop this waste, next time I file a complaint with the police for littering on my property.
#10 – but can’t you just get the same data from the phone company online?
Not a google search for J Smith, but exactly the same database with a web front end
Bobbo lives under the Dvorak Blog bridge, for sure.
People may poo-pooh Minitel but its still out there and there’s a web portal for it as well.
The French (yes those fuckin’ cheese eaters,) were ahead of the US in many respects and still are.
Remember the European Space Agency is still flying, Mark Kelly is heading to close the shuttle’s last mission and NASA’s budget is not doing so good.
Those cheese-eating surrender monkeys are way ahead of us in nuclear power, too.
I guess I’m old — I use mine all the time. It’s very handy finding businesses when you’re new in the area.
I use mine when the power is out, although I have the power company in my cell so I don’t need it for that. A number of years back when Bell South used to exist as a separate entity, they put out a web interfaced phone book and I use that usually. It has the advantage that, unlike the paper one, I can change the locale to another city/county book if I want to look up the number there. I can’t do that with the paper one. There are also apps for the iPhone/iPod/iPad for the yellow and white pages. I’m sure that there are Android apps as well.
I keep one in my car under my seat. Its pretty useful when your phone battery is too low to surf.