Telephone Directory Books vs Human Brain, who will win?  

Well, our phone books aren't THAT big! Ours are only about 1 inch thick. but, we have three of them, one for these counties, one for those counties, and one for counties that I don't live near, but do a lot of business in. (my hubby brings this one home from work.) Mine are mostly used for pressing leaves in.

The thing that our book does that DRIVES ME INSANE, is everyone one is listed, in alphabetical order. They aren't seperated by towns like they used to be when I was younger. Now, if I'm looking for a John Doe from Mason City, I just have to make sure I find the right John Doe. GRRR... I never know who I'm calling!

I guess I'm grateful for the internet. I use the dex online quite often, and it saves me a lot of headaches of searching uselessly through the yellow pages. It works as long as the site is current. :)

Yes, it is incredible with the Internet available how the phone books keep piling up. I think they can be recycled, but am not sure where. You are right, who wants to make a special trip to recycle them? I do like to keep a few around because sometimes I can find info quicker in the book than on the Internet. But, I too have spent long periods of time looking for info in a phone book. I don't use them to smash bugs, but stacked on top of one another they make a fine mini ladder....lol. I don't know why they can't give you one book for people and one for business for your area instead of so many copies. And why not every other year instead of every year? Again, this is the perfect example of how we waste resources in this country.

I don't know if you have a fire place, but tearing off pages will make good fire starter in the winter time. If you want to get rid of them, donate them to someone with a fire place! I use our old ones to start our fires with.. I also keep old notebook paper and old printer paper that has been used and is no longer any good. It all makes good starter before you put on the kindling.

Who will win? The phone book. The phone book will always be much better designed and organized than the human mind.

The yellow pages can break things down into sub categories, try that with the human mind. Sometimes directories can be too organized for us, so I can understand your frustration. But, I look to directories and other guides before I ask other people.

The human brain holds a wealth of info. and in volumes but my money is on the directory b/c of the way they are structured.

tell me about phione books it is the same here yellow pages book 6 ins=ches thick and I put them in the trash we have the kind of can that hooks to back of truck and it dumps it so I am safe and next time look under DMV. Department of motor vehicals.
and I hate them never get any where I look in yellow pages onm the net get batter info there!
Hang in there they can only get worse lol

Oh, I have so much trouble finding things in the phone book. Our phone book is about 3 inches thick but nothing is listed as I think it wought to be.

I know what you mean. I can't believe they are so thick and heavy. I think I have only used it once to find a pizza place, other than that we usually google the subjects we need.

I know exactly what you mean! it can take hours to find one simple number! this year they have started something different here (where I live).. they send you a CD with the entire phone book on it and you just type in the name on a search bar and it brings it right up!
which is great because we ALWAYS lose our phone book (we aren't an organized family) and sometimes can spend hours just looking for the book.. then another hour finding the number! LOL!
forget the phonebook, heavensent, you have a computer.. go to google and google the number.. it pops up in seconds! LOL!
as for what to do with the old phone books.. save them for a really big marshmallow roast! they burn long enough to toast a few! lol!

Our phone books are only about an inch thick but they are in small print on a yellow background. It's aenough to give you migraine. I take a pen and mark any number I use so I can find it easily if I want it again. As for using my brain to remember the numbers, I have a slight problem! I can remember numbers but not in the right order...which is kind of important when it comes to phone numbers. LOL

I use to think that I was the only person who had a problem with how the phonebooks are set up. Its annoying when you are trying to look something up but the have placed the information you want in the phonebook under some kind of secret code. Foe example the other day a friend of ours told us about a dog at the local dog pound that was going to be put to sleep if they wasn't able to get the dog a new home soon. I decided I would call the pound to see if they found the dog a home. I looked under dog pound, animal shelter, animal rescue, none of these had a listing. So I decided to call our vets office to see if they knew what the phone number was. To my surprise she told me to look the number up under water waste treatment. Water waste treatment? Why would a dog pound be listed under that I asked. Because they keep the dogs they find out at the water waste treatment plant. And they wonder why they have problems adopting out animals.