Interesting Thoughts on Phone Books

Question to Ponder - Are phone books becoming obsolete?

I was listening to satellite radio the other day on the way to work and often times the DJ's have silly questions for their listeners such as:

"Which NFL team is going to win?" 
or
"Do you snooze a ton before you wake up? How much time do you spend snoozing?"

...but last Wednesday's poll got me thinking.  The Morning Mash Up crew asked:

"Do you still use a phone book? Do you know anyone that does?"

The discussion on the radio started after one DJ got home to find a stack of phone books outside of his apartment for the tenants to take.  Days passed and the stack still remained wrapped in plastic.

This question really got me thinking about my phone book usage.   After a quick minute, I realized that I'd consider my phone book usage to be minimal at best.  We program important contacts into our cell phones and home phones (if we still have one).  How many people still have landlines anyway?  With the many online services, such as Canada 4-1-1, do we need a 1500 page document listing MANY phone numbers that we'll never even consider calling??

After several callers and comments via Facebook, the consensus was that because of technology, phone books are not required in 2010!  Surprised?  I think not.  But what happens when are you away from your cell or internet access?  With a Facebook account, you can read the comments posted on the Morning Mash Up fan page here.

Upon further research, I found this post by PCWorld that relates to this topic directly.  Read it here.  Something to think about...

I'm beginning to think that receiving phone books should be optional:  If you want one, pick one up, otherwise you can use your SMARTphones or other methods of technology to access the information you're looking for.  We are becoming more of a "green" society and perhaps this is another step in the right direction.  

Your thoughts?