Prompt: describe to a future college student (somebody born within the past 20 years but who is not yet in college, to include next year’s freshman class or that little girl born yesterday) an old-school technology you grew up with that she or he won’t adequately recognize or understand.
To be placed in a time capsule for the class of 2025…
I’m going to tell you a little story about something called a phone book.
Have you ever wanted to order a pizza? Know what time the bank closes? Find a handyman to fix your leaky sink? Contact a neighbor to request that they please not let their dog dig up your yard?
Once upon a time, you would have found the information you were looking for not on the Internet, but in a heavy old 500 page ink-and-paper book.
The phonebook, distributed by phone companies, contained thousands of residential “home” phone numbers (a home phone was a telephone that was never removed from the house and could only support simple calling functions; it was left on all the time) and also the contact information for local businesses and services. The residential names and numbers were listed in alphabetical order by last name in a section called the “white pages,” and the businesses were in the “yellow pages” (literally printed on yellow paper).
You are probably used to ordering pizza online, looking up business numbers and addresses on a Google service, and communicating with your neighbors through social media, and having your friends’ numbers at your fingertips. You probably do most of these things on your phone, and always at always at the time and place the need arises. Imagine having to go into your home office and sort through a tattered stack (somehow these things used to pile up) of hefty books to find the most recent, slam it down on the table, and thumb through the wispy pages until you find what you are looking for. I used to put bookmarks on the pages with my friend’s numbers. If I wanted to talk to them, I would have to call their home phone and ask their parents to pass the phone.
The phone book was not only the thing to consult for any directory-type information, but it was also a permanent fixture of the kitchen table or phone desk. Maybe you are lucky you will never have to find a little spot for your stack of phone books. These were the only pieces of shabby-looking clutter that could never be dispensed of. However, while the tacky books were the bane of anyone trying to keep a neat looking house, they were things to live with. They felt right at home with the day-old newspapers and stack of paper bills (we still had those too) on the kitchen table. The daily paper detritus, while nostalgic, is soon to be a thing of the past.
Comments on Blog Post 5:
Ali's Spring Readings 
I love your letter to the class of 2025 about the yellow pages! You make such good points when you say, “you are probably used to ordering pizza online, looking up business numbers and addresses on a Google service communicating with your neighbors through social media, and having your friends’ numbers at your fingertips.” When we were younger our parents were the ones who owned yellow pages and were responsible for finding numbers for services rather than just “googling it”. Now that I think about it I was oblivious to the functionality of the yellow pages in all it’s entirety because my parents didn’t use it much. The use I really had for the yellow pages was using it as a booster when I was too short to sit at the table. Now the thought of a yellow pages book is just so bulky and tedious to use and store. The children who graduate in 2025 will not even understand the importance of the yellow pages and even understand what patients is. They will not have patience getting a number or a contact for a service because it is already so accessible to search for it on Google. Yes the daily paper will soon be a thing of the past with the saturation of technology given to humans at such an available status in 2014.
I am surprised that you decided to do your post on phone books mainly because I have already completely forgotten about them. I remember seeing them lying around my house as a kid but I never really used one or remember my parents using one (unless it was for ordering pizza). I think that phone books are only going to live on through movies that reference their use. The only reason I even really know what they are is from movies and the little use that I saw of them as a child. They are definitely not a staple piece of technology that I remember. The most recent reason that I have ever needed a phone book was because my friend wanted to try and rip it in half. There was even a Mythbusters episode on trying to rip phone books in half (unsuccessfully) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX_lCOjLCTo. To me they are already something of the past thanks to smartphones which are a lot thinner than phone books.
I agree, they are already pretty obsolete, but as I did a quick search for some background information, I saw that the “yellow pages” part is still alive and kicking even though the white section is gone. http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=39cb1c6f-a937-4d5f-852b-0326187c72c9 Someone even delivers the yellow pages to my apartment complex in Pullman. It is also important to remember that the Internet, while we rely completely on it, is not available to everyone. There is a significant population of people who don’t have access to the Internet or just don’t feel comfortable using it. The phone book is a substitute for all those on that side of the digital divide. Thanks for the comment!
Good post about the phonebook! That is a pretty old technology that no one uses anymore. I barely even ever used one when I was little but I do remember my parents having one in the kitchen drawer. I even have forgotten about phone books but they were a hassle because if people’s numbers ever changed they weren’t updated in the book until you got a new one. I am glad we no longer have to use phonebooks. They are heavy and difficult to keep around the home. I wonder if there are people who still use phonebooks in America? Or do they even still make phonebooks? I did always find it creepy when people’s home phone numbers were in a book that got passed around to everyone. I don’t need my whole city knowing my phone number when I don’t even know them.
This is a pretty awesome post! I like how you really analyzed the phone book as a dying technology. It really is though, I know that I get the “free” local phone book thrown at my house when ever its delivered, and I usually leave it there for a few days…bad I know, then I grab it and recycle it. I have no use for it, if I keep it, it goes with me to the gun range and acquires a few new holes. On the other part of that, the only other place we would see a phone book is in a phone booth, or stand. But like the phones themselves, they’re either ripped out, destroyed, or just plain gone. We have no use for them now a days, you can say they’re going the way of the Dodo.
Quin
I agree! I have not used the phone book in years! I simply go onto Google and order online. It is crazy to think that one day the Phone Book will no longer be in service though. When will this happen I wonder? 10, 20, or 30 years? Who would get rid of it? Would people be upset about it or happy that they can save a little with tax money? Will future parents even teach their children how to use the Phone Book? I have so many questions about it now that I think of it! Good post!
I thought was a fantastic entry! The phone book is surely on its way to complete obsoletism. It is funny how much we used to rely on it, and the landline phone in general. Looking back on objects like this really bring a sense of how large the technological jump has been in just the past few years.