You move into a new house or apartment. You haven't unpacked the computer. The phone or cable company hasn't set up the broadband. The utilities haven't come by to turn everything on.

But if you have a local phone book-- which is often provided by the landlord or realtor when you move in-- you can get cracking on furnishing the place and making it livable.

Maybe that isn't enough to save the phone book, but it's a mighty good reason why we still need them.

If you're moving, I think it would be best if you found all the requirements you cited above, before you moved so you're ready to have it done or already scheduled. Not a very good reason, IMHO, for keeping em around.

1. Inevitably, you won't find everything beforehand, even if you try.

2. Moving is such an involved process and requires so much planning that it really isn't a good use of time to be doing all the post-moving planning before you move.

So, before moving, I should make my own phone book? Anticipate my every need upon moving, including find a new doctor, dentist, gym, grocery store, and so on, look up and write down the names, phone numbers and address of several options for each of these? Compile a list, move, and still be able to find the list after moving chaos? What if I don't know what neighborhood I'm moving to? What if I don't have time to familarize myself with the town in order to choose the closest options to my new residence? Sorry, few people are that organized and its alot less stressful to have that phone book than to plan ahead.

So fine, pick up a phone book when you get your phone service...why should EVERYONE get a new book every year if they don't want/need one? It's nice to have the option of having a paper directory, but it's also nice to have trees, less waste, etc. etc. Choice is a good thing!