@Christie Porter: Yeah...ummm...there's a threat way back up there about that.

@Laura Northrup: I'm an iPhone/MacBook Pro/iPod/Apple TV/Airport Base Station owner and user. I pretty much think Apple is just swell. But I don't badmouth Microsoft. I don't think Steve Jobs is the devil. And I think WAAAYYYY too many Apple users make being an Apple product owner part of their persona and raison d'etre. Besides, since when did owning a certain piece of hardware make you part of a "community"? Even as an Apple-lover, it think a lot of other owners are a little too into it.

Yes.

Toll call:

(303) 499-7111 and
(808) 335-4363

I don't believe the phone company offers it anymore, though, just NIST themselves.

I LOVE the library!

We have an original Carnegie one here. I love it. They refurbished the building to make it look like it did originally and it's really neat. :)

[www.library.unt.edu] for more information.

Plus, "cultist" might not be all bad. It implies a tremendous sense of community and real commitment to a cause. Take it as a compliment.

Also, some light reading, context is half the battle, or some such: [consumerist.com]
[consumerist.com]

@Xanaxian: I don't see how a legit question on a possible breach of contract makes him a hypocritical asshole.

If he decided to drop AT&T as a carrier before his contract ended, he would be pegged with a heafty fee. His punishment for not honoring the prior agreement. However, if Apple promised free 411 service at the time of signing, and they dropped that and it was important to someone (which I doubt), it's still breach of contract.

Take your pretentious (see I can use big words too) attitude elsewhere please.

Blogger Lesson 101..

In order to generate more page views for your blog, use one or more of the following keywords in your blog entry headlines:

ipod
iphone
Apple
Steve Jobs
Microsoft
Vista
bacon
beer
bacon beer
ponies

In other words, Laura wasn't insulting you. Get over it.

On the other hand, Google's service starts out with a quick message: 'Say the business and the city and state'. quick, painless, and it gets you to your information faster. seems to be what google succeeds at in all their services.

Are 411 calls from payphones no longer free? I've been spoiled by my data phone.

@morganlh85: Blackbberries will let you type the letters in and it automatically converts them into numbers for you

So it is more proper to say Microsoft start your mint.

@clementine: Amen to that! Its sad how underused libraries are. Libraries will have all of the phone books, city directories, etc. Please call your local librarian, they would love to answer questions besides "where's the bathroom" and "how do I print from this computer?" (Can you tell I just graduated from library school? lol)

@Cant_stop_the_rock: Still, all of the $1.99 call centers have real people, wheras the free ones are computers. A real person is extremely helpful if you need to spell out "Schlitterbahn" or to find your local Starucks, not the other 58 in the city.

The 1-800-Free411 works about 50% of the time, since it's completely computerized, with no way to talk to a real human. Some businesses have pretty convoluted names that don't lend themselves to computer pronunciation.

Not sure if they outsource it or not, but the amount of time you're talking to a real person is very short - probably under 15 seconds.

One of my former managers worked as a directory assistance operator at AT&T before it was computerized. They were very big on efficiency back then, so I imagine it's even more like a sweatshop now. He had to look everything up in actual phone books back then.

@youbastid: You know, I tried reading Consumerist comments today after a month-long irritation-sparked hiatus, but yours has just put me on the wagon again.

What is it about this site that attracts such sanctimonious assholes?

It'll also define words, and translate phrases.

You really don't need to pay for much of anything when it comes to information services, between Google and Cha-Cha. That pretty much wipes out 411 and KGB entirely.

Only problem I have with 1 800 FREE 411 is that it's often not accurate, or they don't have the latest information of a location.

There have been many times where I will say "Joplin, MO" and then something like "Wal Mart" and it'll say some completely random place that is not even remotely near wal mart.

I do, however, appreciate that they will send you a text message when you finally get the right number.

Oh, and texting GOOGL because it's often faster and more accurate than anything else I deal with.

Most wireless carriers will try anything they can think of to prevent you from weaseling out of a contract due to something like this.

No, it doesn't. My comment suggests that I don't think the Consumerist should be insulting their readers.

@chris_d: If that's the case, I'd be tempted to believe that the vast majority of it is outsourced. It's hard to imagine that AT&T would be willing to deal with the HR costs associated with maintaining a 411 call center in the US. Thanks for the info.

That's really interesting.

I know a couple million iPhone 3G who would love to upgrade to the 3GS without an ETF or or forking over the entire unsubsidized price.

Consumerist has posted a handful of guides to
escaping an ETF based on fee changes.

I hadn't actually realized until a couple years ago that 411 was a paid service. I've since used GOOG-411 several times and was impressed that the entire process was handled without operator intervention. Quick and easy. But it raises the question - who administrates 411, exactly, and why are they under the impression that paying $1.99 for the service is worthwhile when the free options are arguably equal or better?

and besides, Bing is obviously a variety of cherry, not apple.

411? What's that? They still have that service. It's so 1990's.