Advertiser coupons in the mailbox and let's not forget cable public-access. Gone with the Dodo bird.

Like the Terminator!

I think I'm going to call bullshit on that. I remember the old days when everyone had to memorize a number if you wanted to call anyone you had to remember the number or you were out of luck. Back in those days they had these big massive paper books with thousands/millions of these tiny numbers and and if you wanted your number listed you had to give your address that was then published so anyone could see it. Talk about the dark ages.

Personally, I've got my money on the NSA.

First of all, it's not a club, it's an account that they want to use to track and spam you, among other things. But there is a long and short answer to your question. The long answer is it is a battle for data and the one who gets the most data wins. The short is it doesn't matter because we already know what you are up to, Alien.