Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
On the radio this morning I heard a news story saying that about a million people in the UK still use directory enquiries, and some of their calls cost up to £20.
On the way to school, I naturally gave Mischa a brief explanation on the history of directory enquiries (poor girl):
- Before the internet and smartphones, we had friends’ and family phone numbers in one of three places: an address book, the back of my mum’s calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen by the phone, and the phone book in the cupboard under the stairs for numbers we didn’t have written down
- If there was a number that wasn’t written down or was ex-directory, because some people chose not to be listed in the phone book, we could call directory enquiries on 192 and I think it cost 40p each time
So to think that so many (mainly elderly) people still use directory enquiries these days – and it costs a lot more than 40p – is baffling when you can find numbers so easily, quickly and cheaply using the internet.
It proves at least one thing: Ofcom were right when they wrote:
Although the internet seems ubiquitous, the online experience is not the same for everyone. Our research reveals significant differences, by age and by socioeconomic group, in the numbers who are online at all, and in the extent to which those who are online have the critical skills to understand and safely navigate their online world.
