BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Penny S.
Date: 24 Jul 11 - 01:05 PM

My local directory is now the size of a paperback and does not cover the areas I most need to look up, as I'm on the edge of the area. Yellow pages and Thompsons (similar classified) have also shrunk, and are similarly limited in area. All three cover different areas.

Not only have the number of landlines dropped, but more people are ex-directory. I am because of a particular person, but now, due to spam calls, because of those, too.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Greg F.
Date: 24 Jul 11 - 10:21 AM

...many phone service companies are planning very soon to cease publishing the White Pages...

But you betcha they'll still publish the Yellow Pages - 'cause they make money from that.

God bless de-regulation of the Telephone Companies. Screwed again.

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: beeliner
Date: 24 Jul 11 - 09:09 AM

switchboard, which used to be owned by CBS, once had a wonderful assortment of discussion boards, they were discontinued overnight with no advance notice nor reason given. What a pity that friendships made there were not able to exchange contact information before the boards were closed!

They also hosted my first website, "Welt in Tiefe" ("The World in Depth").

Fragments of both the boards and WIT can be viewed on The Wayback Machine.

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jul 11 - 11:48 PM

I use Switchboard all of the time. I think AOL owns it now. And 411 also is efficient. It's if you click through on links for "more" information that you come up against the commercial folks.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Jul 11 - 09:00 AM

The size of phone books varies enormously. I've seen phone books that were about the size of a National Geographic magazine—for a small town in a rural area.

http://www.411.com/
http://www.anywho.com/
http://www.dexknows.com/
http://whitepages.langenberg.com/
http://www.phonebookoftheworld.com/
http://www.superpages.com/
http://www.switchboard.com/
http://www.whitepages.com/
http://www.whowhere.com/
http://people.yahoo.com/
http://www.zabasearch.com/
http://www.ziplocal.com/

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Jul 11 - 08:15 AM

Even when they put the directory in a plastic bag, in the blazing sun it gets wet from condensation.

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Jul 11 - 07:35 AM

The cost of mailing phone books here would be prohibitive, so the phone people generally hire "messengers" to "hand deliver them." Postal regulations prohibit anyone putting anything that isn't "mail" in a mailbox, and the people who deliver them aint' mailpersons. It's a sporadic job, so I guess lots of the people who run them around are probably the same crowd as the S.C.s at Xmas time(?) or something of the sort.

But my mailbox is about average for the neighborhood, and you certainly could squeeze an average phone book into it. It's not that people need the volume but a generous box size saves you from getting your magazines and such curled up too tight make 'em uncurl so you can read them.

Newspapers here are rolled up and stuck into little plastic baggies, in case it rains, and tossed on the lawn in sort of a drive-by process. If I don't get mine picked up before the sun cooks it for a couple of hours I sometimes have to use a steam iron to flatten it out enough to do the xword puzzle.

John

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 22 Jul 11 - 06:22 PM

The delivery companies aren't allowed to put them in the mailbox...

You must have enormous mailboxes if it's a question of "aren't allowed" that stops them putting the books in them.

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 02:59 AM

http://www.switchboard.com/ is quite good - go to "find a person."
Here's another: http://www.whitepages.com - this one even has a reverse directory, so you can check who has a given phone number.

We get three or four telephone directories every year from various companies, and it's a hassle. The delivery companies aren't allowed to put them in the mailbox, so they throw them on the ground at the end of the driveway. Since there are eight families living on our driveway, that makes quite a mess. I've been tempted to have the telephone book companies prosecuted for littering.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 01:08 AM

It is at the "proposed change" status at present in most places in the US, but many phone service companies are planning very soon to cease publishing the White Pages (Residential Listings). They will NOT BE automatically distributed to all subscribers.

There are vague promises that anyone who wants one will be able to purchase a copy, but the appearance is that they'd like people not to order one and likely will eventually cease even making the lists for any sort of publication.

In the US, cell phone numbers have never been listed in any easily available directory, and the number of different service providers probably precludes anyone being able to list any significant portion of them. Recent surveys have shown that about 30 percent of "households" have cell phones but NO LANDLINE and hence no number that at present can be listed in a directory. Something between 60 - 80 percent of individuals report that they now use cell phones exclusively. (The numbers don't add up, but remember that nobody has a list to check them against.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 04:05 PM

You don't have telephone directories delivered any more? What a benighted country you must live in... How can your people show off their strength, if there are no directories to tear across?

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: olddude
Date: 19 Jul 11 - 04:39 PM

www.anywho.com is about the best I have found

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: open mike
Date: 19 Jul 11 - 04:34 PM

http://www.whowhere.com/
http://www.anywho.com/

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Alice
Date: 19 Jul 11 - 09:52 AM

http://www.ziplocal.com/#ps

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 18 Jul 11 - 08:33 PM

http://www.whitepages.com/person

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: Greg F.
Date: 18 Jul 11 - 08:26 PM

http://wp.superpages.com/

Subject: RE: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 18 Jul 11 - 07:18 PM

try http://people.yahoo.com/

Subject: BS: 'White Pages' online: Grrrrr...
From: saulgoldie
Date: 18 Jul 11 - 07:10 PM

I g'vup. Shouldn't there be a *truly free* white pages people telephone look-up online? It seems like they all want money or information. I just want to look someone up like in the old days with REAL white pages. Does that not exist anymore? Ohhhh whatta world!

Saul