Die Yellow Pages!

[rbcp]

I don't know why, but I love reading articles about paper phone books dying.  I guess I just think it's funny that the people who make phone books are desperately clinging to their business model and doing everything they can to keep printing billions of phone books every year. 

So I'm going to start posting all the articles I find in here.  This blog post on Engadget says...

California's public utilities commission has ruled that it will no longer deliver doorstops residential phone books unless folks specifically ask for it -- a move that's expected to prevent 1,870 tons of material from entering the state's waste stream. Californians, like everyone else, can search the White Pages online, but they'll still be able to request a paper copy or CD-ROM if they're feeling old-fashioned. For now, though, the state will continue to ship government White Pages and the Yellow Pages for local business listings (in a post-Yelp world, that seems antiquated).

What's especially fascinating about all this is that the pressure to cease automatic phone book deliveries came from none other than Verizon, which mounted a case back in October, citing the enormous human and natural resources required to get updated phone books into people's hands each year. Of course, the estimated 1,870 tons of averted waste is a fraction of the 660,000 tons BanthePhoneBook.org says these tomes create every year, but here's hoping it'll be enough to make other states take note.

[rbcp]

Here's a cool one, proving that people don't need phone books anymore, despite Dex's lawsuit against the state.

Phone book company loses court fight against Seattle

A federal judge has dismissed a phone book company's lawsuit against Seattle, ruling that the city's opt-out program, one of the country's toughest campaigns against yellow pages, does not violate the Constitution.

Dex One sued Seattle in May, after the city rolled out a registry that lets residents cancel phone-book deliveries. The company, along with SuperMedia and a phone-book trade group, had argued that yellow pages are protected speech under the First Amendment.

Their reasoning: The hefty paper directories provide not just ads and commercial information, but act as guides for community, public safety and political information.

But U.S. District Court Judge James Robart rejected the arguments Tuesday. In his ruling, Robart noted that Dex and SuperMedia run ads in their directories, which he said reference "specific products," such as a front-cover ad for Geico Auto Insurance last year.

The companies had also likened yellow pages to newspapers, an analogy Robart said was a "stretch too far." He called yellow pages commercial speech under the First Amendment, in contrast to the "historic role" newspapers have played in democracy.

The ruling was not surprising, in light of the judge's earlier rejection of an injunction the companies had sought. An appeal filed in 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is still pending.

Seattle's law requires phone book companies to get a license to distribute, pay 14 cents per book distributed, print a front-cover message about Seattle's opt-out program, and honor the city's cancellation program.

As of Wednesday, more than 225,500 yellow pages have been cancelled in Seattle.

[adivan]

There are a lotta means now in searching for phone numbers so why settle for stupid phonebooks. That's so ancient.

[WiFiPunk]

I became a big fan of phoneCD's when they started offering them in my area.
I never really thought about the phone books dying off though..
It's really interesting but, not really surprising.

Hell more and more people don't even have a home phone # anymore anyway.

[nyphonejacks]

Hell more and more people don't even have a home phone # anymore anyway.

yellow pages is BUSINESS listings..

[markov]

Get rid of phone books; then, junk-mail