Electronics catalogs

You'd expect electronics parts suppliers would be a little better at using modern technology than other companies. Also, I'd expect them to be more environmentally concerned since there are so many restrictions on the type of materials that can be used in electronics. Yet I still get catalogs like these in the mail. I haven't been involved in designing hardware (the actual electronic parts) for years now but companies keep sending me these catalogs. In a sense, they are obsolete as soon as they are sent. Things change so quickly in electronics that there are always changes that can't be reflected in a catalog. I end up recycling these when I get them. They are fun to page through once in a while but if I was really looking for parts, I'd go to the website of either the parts suppliers or the original manufacturer of the part.

It's not as if these two companies don't have websites. You can go to the websites of  Newark Electronics or Digi-Key Corporation and browse their catalogs just as you would the paper editions. Or you can search for specific components or types of components. You can't do that with the paper catalog. The problem isn't just that they send the catalogs when there are better alternatives. Look at the picture on the left. These catalogs are huge! They are both almost three inches thick!

Everyone doesn't have access to the Internet (although it would be a pretty poor electronics manufacturer that didn't). So, why don't they just make these catalogs available upon request? That would limit the waste of paper, time and money.