On Tue, 30 Dec 2014 13:47:50 -0000, "Gordon" <[email protected]> wrote: >[...] Also they may have chosen >to have their number withheld which means that it will not be given out by >phone directories etc [...] An increasingly common choice in England.

On 01/01/2015 12:45, cecilia wrote: > On Tue, 30 Dec 2014 13:47:50 -0000, "Gordon" <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> [...] Also they may have chosen >> to have their number withheld which means that it will not be given out by >> phone directories etc [...] > > An increasingly common choice in England. This leads us to an intriguing point. With the almost-universality of mobile phones, landlines are rapidly becoming about as relevant as fax machines. The copper (or fibre) connection to the home will soon be, for most people, only there for data. And with the slow demise of the landline telephone, that of directories, too. Genealogists of the future will rue the end of residential telephone directories. The electoral roll records will also become more and more limited, as more people elect (pun intended) to opt out of publication of their address. If Census records' availability will always have stopped at 1911, that closes another source of geographical information. This century, and not far into it, will mark the point where addresses became far more difficult to trace for historians to come, despite the prevalence of computer records. What will they use instead? Will Facebook, Twitter and their successors maintain records, and make them available for researchers after their data subjects have passed away? Interesting times. Jon -- Maintainer, soc.genealogy.britain FAQs: www.genealogy-britain.org.uk *** WATCH OUT FOR THE SPAM BLOCK! *** Replace 'deadspam' with 'green-lines' to reply in email!