I ask because I just threw my newly-delivered book out. I haven’t used the book in years-if I need a number I use Google.
How long will they continue to print these things?
Our company used ot advertise in Yellow Book, Yellowpages, and ATT Yellowpages.
We dumped all but ATT as they are our telephone/internet carrier.
People by in large are using different media to find information IMHO.
As of yesterday, we need a dishwasher repairman. So we will look in the Yellow Pages to find one. Other than that, I can’t remember when I’ve ever opened any of the dozens of books various companies have thrown on our lawn over the years.
Mostly I Google it, but sometimes I will get the old book out and check for local listings. Primarily for local pizza places.
Until all the old people die.
No, I never use mine and I wish they would quit leaving them at the door. It seems like I get 4 new phoe books a year. I take them directly to the paper recycle bin 4 blocks away. They are a nuisance!
We’ve had a stack sitting at our front door for months, and just the other day I noted a whole new stack sitting on top of the old one.
I can’t remember the last time I opened a YP. I suspect they’ve become even more a victim of the Internets than the dictionary & encyclopedia have.
I use mine: the phone isn’t near my computer.
This one is better suited to IMHO. Moved.
samclem GQ moderator
I’ll use it to look up a phone number for a business I know, (Home Depot, Sears, etc) but if I need to find a particular something, I’ll Google it. Even then, you can use online http://www.whitepages.com/ for your local area.
Around here, we have big yellow billboards with the Yellow Pages logo and this copy:
This invitation to make the comparison between a dynamically-updated, random access internet search engine and annually-distributed linear dead-tree media suggests to me that the publishers of the Yellow Pages are really sick of the whole business and just want it to stop.
We received forty-five (45!) copies of the Yellow Pages at our office, nicely bundled up. Trying to get them picked up by the phone company was not fruitful. After a month or so, they went directly into the recycling bins, as soon as someone could be arsed to take all the plastic jackets off them. What a waste.
I use mine about once a month. I can almost, but not quite, reach the recessed light fixtures in my ceiling when the bulbs need changing. Stepping on a copy of the Toronto Yellow Pages is just enough to close the gap.
I still use the yellow pages sometimes. It seems the most helpful when I can remember some stuff about a business, but not much that is useful in a google search. Maybe I don’t know the name of store, and I know the general area where it is but not the exact street . Looking at the ad spread in the yellow pages helps me find it quickly. A lot of the ads still say things like “Near the Fairgrounds Exit!” and that’s exactly what I’m thinking.
I think when those Google Earth/Google Map tools get better, that’s when I’ll stop with the Yellow pages altogether. Right now they feel very incomplete to me, based on areas that I know well.
I rarely use the Yellow pages, but I find that it many ways they are much better than yp.com or google. The information is simply presented better in the Yellow pages, so if I’m looking for “appliance parts” I can quickly see who is in the area and compare their ads. It’s almost impossible to do the same comparison on the web.
Yep, we use ours. There’s only one high chair in a house that regularly hosts three toddlers - Yellow Pages are great for the tallest ones to sit on.
The paper is also good for lining the table before art projects - newspapers get greater coverage per sheet, of course, but you have to BUY newspapers. Plus the little ones love to use the tape to tape the yellow sheets together.
For actual phone numbers? Not so much. Google is my friend.
I work in a call center and one of the required questions for new clients is invariably, ‘‘How did you hear about us?’’ We hear ‘‘Yellow Pages’’ at least 1/3rd of the time. There are people out there still using them. God knows I don’t – but guess who looks like an idiot when the power goes out?
About 3 years ago, my pipes burst in the middle of the night. We had no power (due to the ice storm) and an only an outdated phone book to try to call a plumber for repairs. It was amazing how many plumbers were no longer in business. Normally, I wouldn’t touch a phone book, but I keep an up to date one around - just in case…
Almost never use the books. Here, at least, Qwest will send a free CD to load into the computer. It has both while and yellow pages, and works very well.
So, I either Google or use that program. I expect many other phone companies will supply such a CD. Worth asking.
Let’s not forget that everybody here is at least a casual internet user, so this poll is vastly skewed. There are still plenty of people who cannot afford a computer+internet or are simply not interested.
I personally keep my yellow pages around in case the power goes out or my internet connection is down when I need to look something up, but that has yet to happen.