All of us continue to get new phone books each year - along with those yellow pages. Many of us could do very well without them. In fact, mine goes straight from the curb to the recycling bin without ever opening it.
However, maybe we are too quick to judge its relative uselessness or usefulness (depending on your perspective).
There are some people - those without computers or those who have grown up relying on the phonebook - that consider the phonebook almost a necessity.
And, if we had no phonebooks, everyone would have to use the internet or call directory assistance for numbers that they didn't know. Besides, if we eliminated phonebooks we would also eliminate the livelihoods and temporary employment for thousands of people.
All across America, people are employed to assemble the basic data for the white pages and to upsell businesses on bold and highlighted listings. Then there are armies of yellow page salespeople that sell and assemble all of the display ads - many as a hook to get listed on the online yellow pages. Then all of the ads and basic listings have to be formatted and typeset - and presumably proofread although I don't know if this is done.
Then the printing companies have to print and bind the books - employing their staffs and the staffs of the paper supply and ink companies.
Then there are trucking companies that deliver the books to the distribution sites and the many people who stuff their trunks and backseats full of phonebooks to begin delivering them across America.
And we could count in the number of people who work for the paper recycling companies who collect and cart off last year's books (and some of this year's).
Phonebooks are much more of a major employment source in this country than initially meets the eye. They are part of Americana.
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