Product: Book: Textbook
Phonebook of Things   (+1, -2)  [vote for, against]
A phonebook you look up goods or services.

I had just got everything set up to grease my monkey, but realized I was completely out of monkey grease. I mean I had the harness, special shoes, banana seat, and fire extinguisher all set up, raring to go. Hoping for a fun filled evening of some serious pirmate lubrication, I turned to my local phone book. Finding a good source of grease (for which to grease my monkey with) turned out to be a rather fruitless endeaver, so i gave up an retired to the fact nor a single slippery baboon would be in my future tonight.

Then I came up with an idea, where any store, could submit any product or service they have to "The Book", and that would either create a catagory, or add itself alphabetically to the list. When I want to buy some Monkey Grease, I can simply look it up and decide where I want to buy it. Things like "Groceries" could be listed as such, and if a store has something they feel is worthy of The Book, aside from Groceries, it could be added.

Stores that register in the book would get more business, and could pay more to get a listing with bold type, a company logo, an ad etc....

Stores that dont register would get less business and want to register in The Book. The Book could be printed, online, or both.

Giblet
-- Giblet, Jun 03 2002

So, how is this different from traditional yellow pages?
-- jutta, Jun 03 2002


Perhaps the paper it's printed on has a primate grease stain motif?
-- bristolz, Jun 03 2002


I just goggle google.com.
-- FarmerJohn, Jun 03 2002


Have to go to the 80-20 rule here. Eighty percent of everything you need, you can find at your local Costco or Sam's Club. Forget Sears, K-Mart, all those aging retail dinosaurs--they are trapped in the middle between the warehouse clubs on the 80% end, and the businesses you are talking about--the remaining 20% that consists of unique, small lot or one-of items. The Whole Earth Catalogue was a start, and, yeah, there should be a web site that markets its businesses as, "The Other 20%", listed for ease of locating them.

As for the day-to-day help you need--simply drive your car several measurement units down the highway and they will be there--to cut hair, fix your car, sell you gas and 'tater chips. These folks are no longer businesses, really--they are part of the noosystem, which is replacing the ecosystem wherever humans live. They are like fruit trees or salt licks, water wells or bee hives. Our environment, the noosystem (umlait over one of the 'o's).
-- entremanure, Jun 03 2002


Think I catch your meaning, EM, but neither "noosystem' nor "neusystem" (with or without umlauts) are in my German/English dictionary. Would you settle for "Umwelt" or "Umgebung"?
-- jurist, Jun 03 2002


Noosystem isn't German, the umlaut's a diaeresis. It means the world of human thought and human creation, more or less. I think it was coined by everyone's favorite wacky visionary Teilhard de Chardin.
-- pottedstu, Jun 03 2002


Jutta and Birsolz I guess didnt understand.

If you need designer chopsticks, there wont be a yellow pages listing. You'd have to look under Asian Kithchen Utensils, or Chinese Cooking Supplies, or something.

For specific things, like Sunday when i need a specific audio adapter jack, or I want to have my photo made into buttons, the yellow pages were usless.

If someone has a button press they can add themselves to the category of THINGS, not a catagory of STORES.

entremanure understood.
-- Giblet, Jun 07 2002



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