4 ms·
How did we survive decades of phone books and directory assistance, when anyone could get an address and phone number for free?
by gregjor 5y ago
How did we survive decades of phone books and directory assistance, when anyone could get an address and phone number for free?
- octoberfranklin 5y agoComputers were expensive and not universally interconnected.
- Teever 5y agoWe didn't live such an interconnected world that some shit-head 13 yo from a country you have never heard couldn't harass you and ruin your life with impunity.
- gregjor 5y agoWe also didn't live in a world where everyone suffered from a compulsion to spill every personal detail and opinion to the world. No social media, nothing to dox.
- watersb 5y agoPhone books from outside your service area were available for sale, but it was tedious and relatively expensive to collect them.
- gregjor 5y agoYou just called 1-AREACODE-555-1212 to have a real person (later a computer) look up the name for you. Public libraries used to carry telephone directories from all over.
- netizen-936824 5y agoBecause people weren't broadcasting their ideas to the entire globe for some rando to get pissy about But now we have twitter