Time to end the unrestricted distribution of phone books?

[davefoc]

We got a new copy of the yellow pages today. It has been years since we used the yellow pages around here. And of course there are several versions of the yellow pages (including the ones from the non yellow page yellow pages companies) that are delivered to our house throughout the year.

The thought occurred to me that it would be nice if there was a web site where one could opt out of yellow page delivery. Then in looking around a bit I found that a law had been proposed in at least one state that would require the yellow page companies to allow people to opt out of yellow page delivery by calling the company. The phone company response to the proposed law was that it was unnecessary since the the yellow book company in at least that state already allowed people to opt out of yellow book delivery.

I liked this. It appealed to my libertarian notions of allowing things to work without government regulation. So I emailed a message to my local yellow book company asking how one goes about opting out of delivery. We'll see how far that gets.

Meanwhile, I came across this video about the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xnHnHcmMho

Anybody have any thoughts about this? I realize that not adding tons of unused phone books is not going to solve global warming, eliminate dependence on foreign oil or end the war in Iraq but it does seem like it would be nice to end the useless production of millions of yellow page phone books. And while we are at it we might take a whack at the distribution of white pages. These seem to be even less used than the yellow pages these days and it might be nice to stop distributing these things to millions of people who don't use them also.

[JEROME DA GNOME]

I use phone books all the time.

Less since the internet.

Is internet always available?

This argument follows towards the removable of books in general, does it not?

[davefoc]

All right,
This thread inspired me to see if I could tear a phone book in half. I went looking around the internet for some instructions and gave it a shot. My first attempt at the whole book was unsuccessful, but I managed to tear through about half the full thickness. Now, I've had success I can hardly wait for the next phone book delivery to see if I can get closer to tearing through the whole book. And I thought these things were useless. Note we're renovating our living room hence the paint, caulk, plaster, etc all over me.
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/56647295f3177fb9.jpg

[Khalid01]

I use phone books all the time.

Less since the internet.

Is internet always available?

This argument follows towards the removable of books in general, does it not?
Not anymore than abolishing of indiscriminately distributed junk mail calls for the removal of say, subscription magazines. The issue is voluntary reception, not the medium itself.

I happen to enjoy the tangible quality of a book in my hand, seeing my library of Asimov and Herbert books that I've read, and being able to read while on the crapper. I don't think e-book readers can satisfy those conditions, except for the latter, once they come down to a reasonable price.

[davefoc]

I use phone books all the time.

Less since the internet.

Is internet always available?

This argument follows towards the removable of books in general, does it not?

What I am suggesting is that there be a way of preventing delivery of phone books to people who don't want to get them.

If that mechanism does exist, (we'll see if the phone book company responds to my email) I am suggesting that it would be a good idea to publicize it so that people who aren't going to use the books know how to stop the delivery of the books.

As far as the answer to the question about whether the internet is always available: For many people the internet is generally available when a phone book is available so the internet and the phone book availability generally overlap. This is of course not always the case. Some people might use the yellow pages in their cars when their internet connection is not available (although even there some people will have internet access through phones or laptops) and some people don't have internet connections at all. For those people , who for whatever reason, decide they want the phone book, I don't propose to end delivery.

A side note here is that the French minitel system (a forerunner of the internet) was developed with the purpose of eliminating the need for the distribution of phone books. I wonder if it succeeded and phone books aren't distributed in France.

ETA: I missed the question about whether this issue is part of the larger issue of the replacement of all books with electronic means. IMHO, that idea is only very tangentially related to the issue of preventing the production and distribution of millions of unused phone books.

ETA: I should have also noted that some 411 services now offer yellow page referrals through the phone, so even if one doesn't have an internet connection or a yellow page type book it is still possible to find business phone numbers and addresses.

[UnrepentantSinner]

One of the main problems with trying to convince telephone companies to limit distribution of yellow pages is getting them to accept diminishing a source of ad revenue that's apparently so profitable they can run TV ads constantly tauting how effective their yellow page listings/ads are.

[Tokenconservative]

We got a new copy of the yellow pages today. It has been years since we used the yellow pages around here. And of course there are several versions of the yellow pages (including the ones from the non yellow page yellow pages companies) that are delivered to our house throughout the year.

The thought occurred to me that it would be nice if there was a web site where one could opt out of yellow page delivery. Then in looking around a bit I found that a law had been proposed in at least one state that would require the yellow page companies to allow people to opt out of yellow page delivery by calling the company. The phone company response to the proposed law was that it was unnecessary since the the yellow book company in at least that state already allowed people to opt out of yellow book delivery.

I liked this. It appealed to my libertarian notions of allowing things to work without government regulation. So I emailed a message to my local yellow book company asking how one goes about opting out of delivery. We'll see how far that gets.

Meanwhile, I came across this video about the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xnHnHcmMho

Anybody have any thoughts about this? I realize that not adding tons of unused phone books is not going to solve global warming, eliminate dependence on foreign oil or end the war in Iraq but it does seem like it would be nice to end the useless production of millions of yellow page phone books. And while we are at it we might take a whack at the distribution of white pages. These seem to be even less used than the yellow pages these days and it might be nice to stop distributing these things to millions of people who don't use them also.


While I am pretty old, the only time I ever touch a phonebook is to stand on a stack of them in my pantry to reach the back of the top shelf. Now, I have a little plastic stool in there for just that purpose, but that's pretty handy and sometimes gets moved somewhere else.

I was thinking exactly the same thing the other day when the THIRD of the FOUR sets of these I will get (two voice lines in the house) arrived. We get two different brands of Yellow AND white pages...

I know that as a good environmtalist (AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAH!) I am supposed to take the old ones to the recycling center (using $2-3 bucks of gas, and rubbing off another 20 miles worth of synthetic rubberized materials from my tires adding to the brown haze in my city), but I just pitch the damned things into the trash.

I imagine I am not alone in this...approach.

Nobody is going to give you an "opt out" approach unless they are forced to. Yellow pages are, first and foremost, advertising. Noboy allows you to opt out of all those ads on TV, or the maddening ones in movies at theaters or the ones you rent or buy (I think the people who put these in movies you buy should be executed...slowly). So don't hold your breath waiting for this.

But it's a good idear. I imagine one of the reasons enviros have not gone after this, is that...you can find their phone numbers and internet sites in um...well, the phone books.

Tokie

[Tokenconservative]

All right,
This thread inspired me to see if I could tear a phone book in half. I went looking around the internet for some instructions and gave it a shot. My first attempt at the whole book was unsuccessful, but I managed to tear through about half the full thickness. Now, I've had success I can hardly wait for the next phone book delivery to see if I can get closer to tearing through the whole book. And I thought these things were useless. Note we're renovating our living room hence the paint, caulk, plaster, etc all over me.
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/56647295f3177fb9.jpg


LOL!

I thought all that stuff was shredded phone book.

Tokie

[Twilek]

So did I! It seemed a much more dramatic undertaking when I thought it was shredded phone book a-flying. :D

The only thing I use a phone book for lately is to hold up the front of my exercise bike. I don't like the tilted forward angle it sits at without it.

We get about 4 giant ones every year, and I'm lucky if I use even one of them to find a number, before the next batch comes out. I do recycle them, but it still seems like such a waste of paper and energy to just hand them out to everyone like they do.

[slingblade]

We have the same problem here. We get 3 different, gigantic phone books each year. One from DEX, the "real" yellow pages people, and two from private phone book sales companies. None of them has all the numbers, because people pick and choose which one to buy ads in. They might buy ads in two, but not a third, or in just one, or all three. They might buy space from one book this year, then in another book next year.

It drives me nuts. Worse, my husband thinks we should keep all three, so we'll have all the numbers....then he makes notes, writes other numbers, and so on, in all three, so I'm not allowed to get rid of them the next year until he transfers numbers, which he never does.

My son is coming over on Monday to take 12 volumes of yellow pages to the recycling center for me.

:mad: