Just tell me the number.

If you asked me what I consider to be the most maddening and incompetent service in America, I would have to say. INFORMATION. Dialing 411 is an absolute nightmare. First of all they deluge you with promotions before they even address your need to look up a phone number. Then, they are invariably unable to recognize a voice command to find such number and always say, "We'll connect you with an operator." Once you reach the operator, even if she has the number, she will connect you to a robotic deliverer of same. At this point, you will get the phone number you need in a manner that makes it very difficult to remember it or write it down. So, they will not say, "Your number is 441-362-9147, but rather "Your number is 4      41   3    62     9  147."  Huh? This is so they can charge extra to connect you. We're stuck. Phone books are a thing of the past. The computer doesn't always provide phone numbers. And 411 is useless.