Did anyone else receive a phone book this week?

If you did, perhaps store it away carefully with your VHS tapes, typewriter and Rolodex. Maybe you could keep them under your waterbed.

Just as I was trying to think of a bigger, more pointless waste of time than distributing phone books, it was grabbed out of my hand by my son who was fascinated by it – well, for 10 minutes anyway.

He’s now in his mid-20s and had never seen a BT phone book, so his reaction was interesting.

Ironically, although we do feature in the listing, we rely totally on mobile phones and the landline had its handset disconnected ages ago.

So why is BT sending out hard copy phone books in 2023, particularly as this one is tagged as a ‘final edition’ with a note advising you to ‘hold on to it forever’?

I get nostalgia, I really do, but surely we must accept some things have been consigned to history whether we like it or not. My grandad felt Encyclopaedia Britannia was crucial if I was to gain a decent education, and bought the family an entire set. It must have cost a fortune but within a generation it was completely worthless and redundant.

As I say, the reaction of my 25-year-old was surprising. First he was amazed it could even be published from a GDPR point of view and immediately wanted to know if people opted in or out. Next he questioned why my initial had been chosen and my wife’s hadn’t and asked if this wasn’t a little sexist.

‘I get nostalgia, I really do, but surely we must accept some things have been consigned to history whether we like it or not...’

But, after checking its political correctness and legality, it led to a far more interesting debate as we went on to discuss other things in existence now which will be completely redundant in a decade’s time.

Greeting cards, like cheques, are clinging on. DVDs are also pretty much gone now. But we were also able to agree car key fobs, debit and credit cards, passwords and TV remotes will soon die out. Zoos, animal farms and pencil sharpeners were also raised, though there was a split decision on these.

So, although the phone book itself is completely pointless, it did succeed in raising a family debate. And, for the nostalgia lovers, it did have a history section – who knew the first phone book was published 140 years ago, with the first online edition going live in 2005?

Needless to say, the lad was flummoxed by me mentioning ‘3 rings’, a party line and the fact my dad controlled my mum’s usage by locking the dial. If you get these then you’ve probably still got a pencil sharpener and a roadmap in a drawer.