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The White Pages to Say Goodbye to New York, if Verizon Has Its Way

by Matthew Zuras on May 10, 2010 at 05:40 PM

stack of telephone directories
The thing that we rarely talk about when discussing the certain fate of print media is its ecological value. Most of us, we'd venture, have at least some nostalgia for printed matter, as well as mixed feelings for the spread of e-books. But one book that we're sure no one will miss is the White Pages.

Verizon asked New York state regulators on Friday to end the distribution of millions of telephone tomes this year, estimating that doing so would save 5,000 tons of paper. Customers would still be able to request a hard copy of the White Pages if they wished, but a 2008 Gallup Poll, which claimed only one in nine households actually use the book, does not bode well for the White Pages' future.

The millennial generation is married to cell phones, which are typically not included in White Pages directories, but older customers still go the old-fashioned, analog route to find the contact information of friends and family. Even though AT&T has received approval for similar requests in Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio, its proposal was withdrawn in North Carolina after advocates for senior citizens complained.

The Yellow Pages would, of course, still be circulated; it rakes in no small amount of revenue from those businesses that pay for listings. The Business White Pages and government directories would also survive another year. Meanwhile, the Internet is gearing up to serve as a repository for those people who have listed land-lines; that would be faster than flipping through that big book, anyway. [From: NYTimes]

Tags: DeathOfPrint, directory, green, NewYork, telephone, TelephoneDirectory, top, verizon, WhitePages, YellowPages

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