GTE reverting to
bigger phone books
Too many people found
By Rob Perez
last year's editions too hard
to read, it says
Star-BulletinBigger is better -- at least when it comes to phone books. That's what GTE Directories has decided in announcing plans today to return to a larger phone directory for the islands starting with the 1998 edition.
In what became a public relations flop for the company, GTE this year published a shrunken version of the phone book.
The current books have smaller type than their predecessors and are printed on 8-inch by 10-inch paper instead of the usual 9-inches by 11-inches.
But the smaller size sparked numerous complaints, especially from elderly people and others who had a more difficult time reading the shrunken type.
Disgruntled customers sarcastically said GTE should include magnifying glasses with the books.
Asked how many complaints GTE received, spokesman Calvin Tadaki said, "It was enough to go back to the larger type size."
GTE said it switched to the smaller size based on consumer research showing people preferred the 8-by-10 format because the book was easy to handle and store.
But once the new books were distributed beginning in May, the complaints started coming, even in newspaper letters to the editor.
"We think our advertisers and our customers who use the directories will be happy about the increase in type size and larger ads," said Earl A. Goode, GTE Directories president.
"We don't take changes like this lightly. We listened carefully to our customers, and this is what they want."
The company publishes about 1.5 million directories for Oahu customers, and thousands more for neighbor island ones.
It announced the return to the larger format at a luncheon marking GTE Directories' 40th anniversary in the islands.
"I'm greatly pleased," said Earle Gates, 68, a member of the American Association of Retired Persons, when told of the news.
