I got a kick out of this post on reason.com about how the phonebook changed the world. From the article:
They were the first step in our long journey toward the pandemic self-surveillance of Facebook. “Hey strangers!” anyone who appeared in their pages ordained. “Here’s how to reach me whenever you feel like it, even though I have no idea who you are.”
I wonder if people complained about the phonebook back then the way the complain about Facebook now.
By the way, if you’re interested in checking out a city directory, the “phonebook” before there were telephones, your local archives or maybe your public library should have them. (In Halifax, the Spring Garden location has the McAlpine’s City Directory on microfilm going back to 1891.) They often listed the profession in addition to the address of all a city’s residents, so they’re fun to browse through if you’re interested in what people did all day back in the day.
