Remember when phone books were actually utilized to look up a home telephone numbers or the yellow pages to find a business?

 

With the expanse of technology and the ease of the internet at our fingertips at work, on the road and at home, the day of the printed phone book seems to be going the way of the Dodo.

 

Fewer people are relying on paper directories for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is more people rely solely on cell phones, whose numbers typically aren't included in the listings. Also, more listings are available and can more easily be accessed online. And finally, mobile phones and caller ID systems on land lines can store a large number of frequently called numbers.

 

This year’s local directory distributed by Windstream totals 98 pages dedicated to businesses (yellow) and 276 to residential (white). That’s down by nearly 65% since 2007 when the directory consisted of 150 yellow and 414 white pages.

 

A survey was conducted for SuperMedia Inc. by Gallup and it showed that between 2005 and 2008, the percentage of households relying on stand-alone residential white pages fell from 25% to 11%. 

 

Unlike the residential white pages, the business directories printed on yellow pages are doing fine, at least according to the Yellow Pages Association. The industry trade group claims more than half the people in the U.S. still let their fingers do the walking every month, and that 550 million residential and business directories are still printed every year.

 

Though the fat phone book has last its girth the last 20-30 years or so, some still find uses for them no matter what the size. Some people use the pages for fire starters, composting and cleaning windows. Some tend to use the pages for sopping up spills or checking their car’s oil. Crafty folks can use the pages for paper mache projects or decoupage.

 

The movement to newer technologies and faster internet speeds seems to have doomed the big, fat phone books of yesteryear.

 

“We use our phone book maybe half the time,” said Becker resident Carol Brunn. “We recycle all previous editions and duplicates.”

 

“I am always using my smartphone and would not use a phone book,” says Randy Knick.  “Only directory we use at home is for our church.” 

 

Gregg Karnis of Becker says the internet is his choice for looking up phone numbers.

 

“I don't use paper phone books anymore,” he said. “I just recycle or simply throw away the directories I get in the mail.”

 

Even the musclemen who used to tear the books to showcase their strength will need to find something else that isn’t headed for extinction. 

 

With a mere 300 pages of content, it’s just no challenge.