The Internet may have rendered the phone book almost obsolete, but one group still relies heavily on it.
However, seniors say the phone book is shrinking – and so is the print – to the point where it’s almost unusable.
“Just the size of it, unreal. Next year we won’t even have a book if this continues,” says Madeline Thorne, a senior in Saint John.
Thorne is among several Saint John seniors who are recycling their new phone books, because they say they’re not much good for anything else.
“Not only the seniors, but the visually impaired. They have a very hard time with this,” says Jean Stevens. “It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”
“I mean, the average person can’t see that. I can’t. I’m nearsighted,” says Sherman Palmer. “The only way I can see that is with a magnifying glass and there are people who have worse eyes than mine.”
Linda Nickerson, who is visually impaired, says seniors are being denied a traditional service they still rely on.
“Because seniors are the ones who use the phone book,” she says. “Younger people are hip with technology.”
“The only ones that are going to use it, the majority are going to be seniors,” agrees Gerry Hudson. “It’s not going to be the younger generation. They get a book and they can’t read it.”
A local senior citizens group in Saint John has written a letter to Bell Aliant and to the Yellow Pages, expressing its concerns over the shrinking phone book and print.
It also says the print is forcing many to pay for directory assistance from the phone company.
The group says neither company has responded to their concerns.
CTV News also sought a response from Bell Aliant. The company said nothing about the small print, instead referring CTV to the Yellow Pages.
The Yellow Pages did not respond to a request for comment.
The next edition of the phone book will be released in August or September.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
