# Do You USE Your Yellow Pages Anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946 "2008-02-24T14:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/21 "2008-02-24T17:25:42Z")
Yes, to add weight to the bottom of the cat tree and make it more stable. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/22 "2008-02-24T17:27:54Z")
Does it count if I use it to keep a cabinet shut? Ever so occasionally I use it for its intended purpose. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/23 "2008-02-24T17:30:55Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] I rarely use the Yellow pages, but I find that it many ways they are **much** better than [yp.com](http://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. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I agree with this. I rarely use the Yellow Pages either anymore but I still find comparing ads helpful. Online searches get you a list of businesses and a possible website. In the YP, you can fairly quickly determine what type of business it is from the ads (i.e. one aimed a lower income people, a long established business, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/24 "2008-02-24T17:32:46Z")
I don’t use them much; I Google instead. Even at work, I can’t remember the last time I looked up a number in the phone book. So many people, including us as a couple, are cell-phone-only, so we are not in the white pages. That section is getting less useful all the time. But my husband still does use the yellow pages regularly, so we have “the phone book” around. (We are in a small enough city to have white and yellow pages in one book–and blue for government numbers.) The point above about needing them for emergency calls when the power is out is enough for me to hang onto them. They do have lots of ‘extras’ in there, too–earthquake info, first aid, maps, seating charts for local venues, and most importantly–menus of local restaurants.🙂 When we get a new phone book, it’s been my habit to toss the old one in the car. That’s come in handy a time or two, even if it’s just to pick a place to eat or confirm an address. ---
**Author:** ![soulburnz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@soulburnz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulburnz)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/25 "2008-02-24T17:36:55Z")
I keep a phone book in the car, because they have city maps in them. 2 other phone books are serving as a very cheap monitor stand. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/26 "2008-02-24T17:46:25Z")
Absolutely. If I want to know a phone number, I consult the phone book. It is extremely simple. Contrariwise, I just went to [Google.com](http://Google.com) to look for their “phone number search feature” and couldn’t even find it. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/27 "2008-02-24T17:51:41Z")
I use mine because the places I order take-out from have their menus included. Not that I’ve ever looked, but I’d be surprised if my favourite local Thai place has their menu online. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/28 "2008-02-24T19:33:24Z")
I just moved to a new town, and depended on the yellow pages to find out what restaurants were where. Very useful. Now that I know what’s what, however, they’re less useful. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/29 "2008-02-24T20:17:18Z")
I almost never use the white pages and only rarely use the yellow pages. On those rare occasions that I use the yellow pages I’m browsing a large category (e.g. are there any lawyers that perhaps write wills within easy wheelchairing distance of where I live?). However, I still like to have them around just in case for some reason I can’t use my computer. I use [www.canada411.com](http://www.canada411.com) for my normal looking up of people and companies. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/30 "2008-02-24T21:44:48Z")
We live in a very rural county, and there are some businesses here that don’t have websites. Using the book is lots quicker than trying various searches to find what I want. I figure I use it at least once a month. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/31 "2008-02-24T21:49:30Z")
Yes, I use mine. It’s easier to look at the book than it is to go online. And I like to be able to see different companies’ listings all together, rather than looking them up one by one. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/32 "2008-02-24T23:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] [Change a bulb, save a tree](http://www.azpartsmaster.com/shopazp/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=LC0101). [/QUOTE] Thanks, but they’re not that kind of bulb – I bought something like that and it didn’t work, so I took it back. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/33 "2008-02-25T00:24:50Z")
I use it a few times a year, certainly. Anytime I need to find a trades person, auto mechanic, or other local business person who’s running a small shop without their own IT dept, it comes in handy. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/34 "2008-02-25T07:05:17Z")
I think us rural folks use them more in general. This is a bad place to take this poll unless you want it focused on heavy intwar net users… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/35 "2008-02-25T09:20:48Z")
I use the online version, it’s easier. The paper copies hang around here for a bit, then go out into the recycling. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/36 "2008-02-25T09:50:00Z")
I’m using mine right now, as it happens. It’s weighing down a bit of fabric I’m glueing over a threadbare chair. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/37 "2008-02-25T10:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=Peak Banana] Until all the old people die. [/QUOTE] Yep- only old people use them. And of course, people are just going to stop aging so there won’t be old people. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/38 "2008-02-25T18:21:16Z")
Yeah, I use them somewhat regularly at home and work. At home, I don’t always have a computer up and logged onto the net, and all of our computers are usually upstairs or downstairs from the main living area. So it is often easier to simply pull the book out of the kitchen drawer, than to go to a computer, turn it on, wait for it to boot up, and search. At work in Chicago I often use the Yellow pages for places near my home in the suburbs. Not sure why. Probably just habit. But especially if I have looked up a number before and underlined it and/or dog-eared the page, I feel I can find it quicker and more reliably than on-line. I also feel Yellow pages are better than Google for looking up a particular type of business in a particular area - say pizza places or plumbers near you. If you know the name of a business, Google is great. But if you just know the TYPE of business, Google might not be quite so great. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/39 "2008-02-25T19:29:12Z")
Not while I have an Internet collection. But we will get paper ones as long as the publishers can get away with offering dual sale to customers: thye can’t get in the on-line version unless they also pay to get listed in the paper version. OTOH, one could always make a [costume](http://www.basvlugt.nl/images/private/katja_gouden_gids.jpg) out of Yellow Pages-paper. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946/40 "2008-02-25T19:49:16Z")
If I’m looking for the number of a particular place, I use the net. But I find the phone book quite useful for looking up repair people/tradespeople/etc. I’ve never had an easy time finding a plumber, roofer, painter, etc. on the net. I like the display ads in the paper phone book, because they tell me a bit more about the business. That’s about it, though. For everything else, it’s the net all the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-your-yellow-pages-anymore/438946.md?page=3)