• merc@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    8 months ago

    The beginning of the end was during the dotcom boom in the late 90s and early 2000s. The yellow pages were one of the very first things to go online. The only thing that kept the physical book going for a little while is that it took a few years before everyone had Internet access.

    Unlike some things, this wasn’t a case where you needed a critical mass of people online before it made sense to make the yellow pages available online. Instead, it was there from day 1, and it just became more useful / popular as more people came online.