We got our new phone books yesterday. As usual, they weigh a ton and are almost too big to flip through. A burning question (ok, not really. I slept pretty well last night) I have is why does the phone company still print these damn things?
Telephone use has exploded in the past few years – so much so that many areas now have to dial ten digits to call across town. Mobile phones, fax machines, PDAs. Everything has a number now. There are even a half-dozen different companies who can provide your dial tone.
So why, after all of this growth, does the phone company print these enormous books and then pay a small fortune to have them distributed? Hasn’t anyone considered putting it all on a CD?
It can’t be cost. AOL made a name for itself by its relentless mailing of free AOL CD’s in a scheme to get people using their service. If AOL can mail out millions of unsolicited CD’s for free, why can’t the phone company do the same with their directories?
I can’t help but consider this hunk of dead tree as a sign that the fable of the monolithic telephone company has a ring of truth to it (ooh, sorry). These fat, monopolistic companies are happy to sit on their anticompetitive goldmine and let everyone else lead the way with innovation. With size comes timidity.
It is no surprise it took the breakup of AT&T for the Internet to finally prosper. I hope the Net will someday replace these dinosaurs entirely.