Directories still work wonders. You will maybe not see effects right away but in a year or two it all adds up and in my opinion is still worth the time.
Thank you, now I got it, finally - The Directories would live for ever. In a year or two they would be even better - old, stable and indexed.
I agree with everyone else, directories are not dead. Although some webmasters have slowed down submitting to directories there are still alot out there who use directories as their main source for links. Also when it comes to SEO I think directories are the safer bet simply because alot of the older directories are seo friendly and have not bowed down to google by using the no-follow tag. Most social sites have started using the no follow so links from there are pretty much useless, at least when it comes to google, but they still work great for the other search engines.
Directories were around before search engines, they're old but still very useful. The whole world is slowing down right now, recession and all.
Directories are still live and well. On the other hand there are a whole bunch of crappy directories out there that are a waste of time.
If you can find a directory specific to your niche it can be extremely helpful. However, the old school method of submitting one's site to 1000 crappy quality directories is a complete waste of time and effort.