I know that I am usually one that posts news stories here that I have argument with. So here is an idea that I somewhat agree with:

San Francisco may be 1st city to cut Yellow Pages


They dropped another version of the Phone Book on my doorstep over the past week and I asked my wife if we really needed or used it. She said that unless I use it no one does. I can't tell you the last time I opened the yellow pages so I took the books and deposited them in the recycling bin.

I know that the phone companies that produce the books make some money by selling advertisements but the margins have got to be getting smaller and smaller. It probably is time to stop automatic delivery of the book to every doorstep.

They came around my house to deliver new copies this week, too. I opted out last year, so they left a note on my door instead.

That said, I think this is an area where the market can probably decide on its own. If businesses aren't seeing a return on their yellow pages ads, they're not going to buy ads. For some businesses, those ads have generated a lot of revenue in the past. Whether or not they still do, I don't know.

If the impetus for this is clogged recycling machines and the cost to repair them, that can be responded to without banning automatic delivery, but instead requiring them to meet certain criteria or paying the city for their disposal.

I haven't had a phone book dropped on my doorstep in a few years. Granted, I also haven't had a landline in that same time frame.

I think they're deprecated and not needed anymore, but I say the same thing about paper road atlases and my dad buys one every year without fail.

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Paper Road Atlas's are still useful if phone doesnt have coverage or GPS is dead in the area.

I havent had a phone book in over 8 years. >_<

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It's common sense. A lot of things are changing with the internet.

Only people I could see not agree with this would be some old farts that still refuse to use a computer for anything.

The yellow pages still sell ads and get good revenue because they keep expanding the area each book goes to. For example, 15 years ago each nearby county to you might have had it's own book, and now the same book contains all 3 counties. The book is still the same size since so many advertisers have dropped out though (even though it covers 3x the area). There is a limit to how much they can do this though, as how difficult is it to sell an ad to a local pizza parlor if a huge percentage of the people getting the book are so far away he can't service them. Eventually these will cease to exist, which is why major phone companies (such as Verizon and the old GTE)sold off thier publishing divisions years ago.

Not to mention most tend to overestimate the number of people that use computers/internet in general because it's become a cultural given. There's actually a substantial number of people without easy access, or people who simply don't want/intend to use it(not just old geezers as is commonly accepted, unfortunately).

Oh, and occasionally a road atlas can be awesome. I haven't had a reason to buy an ipad yet, so that may be part of my excuse - Squinting at my iphone or spending a few seconds to make sure I have the right area/destination loaded(assuming no lag and i'm not in a remote area with bad access), rotate my fingers to blow up the picture is easily solved via 2 seconds of unfolding a paper. Same goes for waiting for digging the laptop out of my bag and loading it up, wasting battery. Don't get me wrong - 8 times out of 10 smart phones are much more handy for getting from point A to point B, but don't neglect the occasion where the ole paper map is quicker. Especially, for example, when you have that particular region already opened on the map, you've seen the picture before, and in a split-second you can see the route you need to take on it.

I love technology, but I also see no reason to arbitrarily decide something is deprecated because it doesn't have electrons flowing through it and I want to be Mr. Trendy in the Information Age.

Road Maps are a good thing. I have been making sure that my kids are both able to read and understand maps. Yes the GPS and smartphone apps are nice, but I want to make sure that they are able to function without one.

Road Atlas != map

He buys the big fucking compilation of every state, not foldable maps. He also doesn't keep it in his car, he keeps it in a cabinet.

Reading a map (and using a compass) is a must have survival trait, imo. Buying a road atlas and keeping it somewhere that it'll never be used is just a waste.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]