Technology is displacing the telephone directory from American households. Environmentalists and households, among others, are now questioning the wisdom of printing 2,000 pages of phone numbers hardly touched by consumers who prefer speed dialing features of their mobile units or Internet search engines to find a contact number.

A number of apartment buildings in South Boston reported 2008 editions of newly delivered phone books remain untouched in foyers.

Blogger Jason Muth wrote, "Each time I'm greeted by piles of bound paper at my doorstep, I think the same exact thing: what a waste... The energy to distribute and manufacture these, the raw materials used to print these, and our time to dispose of them properly."

After receiving Verizon's directory, Muth told the Boston Globe, "What industry is indiscriminately allowed to throw their product on your front step and leave you to deal with it? It's environmentally wrong; it's morally wrong."

Verizon, in a written reply, said its phone books are now thinner and more user friendly since the phone company reclassified phones in the state by area. Yellow Book said 87 percent of adults use their phone directories are least once a year. Stephanie Hobbs, a spokeswoman for the Yellow Pages Association, pointed out when subscribers fail to get their directories, the company receives complaints.

Sharon Gillett, Boston's commissioner of the Department of Telecommunications and Cable, said it is difficult for the state to regulate the delivery of phone books because it involves a First Amendment issue.

The printed directories' competition with technology was further given a boost in 1991 when the U.S. Supreme Court said telephone listings are not covered by copyright laws since it does not involve creativity. The ruling spawned the availability of electronic versions available on CD-ROMs and the World Wide Web.