Ever since there are phones, there have been a phone book directory sitting on the phone table next to it. In rural communities peoples eagerly awaited the coming of the yearly free phone book to check out the new additions in their village, and the city dwellers regularly called on the phone book listing to locate the newest take-out restaurant in their neighborhood or the address of the nearest cinema. In time, as the number of phones multiplied, our traditional phone book directory grew from leaflet to a thousand-page thick brick, heavy enough to knock anyone down.
These days though, very few households still have a phone table in the hallway. We use wireless handset units or cell phones we carry in our purse or pocket, and although the phone book listings are still the ultimate resource to find whatever we seek, we'd rather look them out at their new location... the Web.
With the internet phone book the neighborhood has grown global, and it's no trouble at all the find the number of that old friend who recently moved to the other side of the country. Is it an address we seek? No sweat... a simple reverse phone book lookup will provide in seconds. The good old phone book directory is still around though, and quite handy still... if only to sit the kids on at the diner table.
