BECKY PINEO, who wants to “close the book’’ on phone directories (Metro, Jan. 9), is apparently oblivious of the problems some people have. To begin with, not every family has a computer or skill in using one. I do use a computer, but my vision is deteriorating so that I have difficulty reading numbers on a computer screen.
I use a magnifying glass and a bright light to read phone books. Of course, I could look up the information on the computer and then print it so that I could use the magnifying glass and flashlight to read the printout, but it would be more time-consuming, particularly since I might think I had found the information on the computer and then, after printing it, I might discover that this was not the information I wanted.
Some of the old technologies do have advantages.
Carol Cerf
Cambridge 
