I Miss My Sunday Paper

I came home this afternoon and saw my wife lying down on the couch reading some mail that we received during the week. It reminded me that I no longer receive a Sunday newspaper. I miss the Sunday paper.

I suppose I could replace a tree-killing paper with a virtual one using my Kindle e-reader. I just looked at the website that replaced my local paper and it has all of the news stories I would usually read when I received a printed newspaper. Truth be told, I actually read the comics first. I lamented this same problem about 3 years ago in a similarly titled entry. Back then, I found a website that lists most of the comic strips available. Unfortunately I have not kept up with my favorite cartoons as that requires more work than opening the door and finding new reading material on the front porch waiting for me to read. Perhaps it is a habit I just need to make.

Another thing I miss is a trusted source of information. Often times people get news from social media sites and the information is not always factual. You'll hear rumors of solving various maladies with snake-oil tactics such as consuming the latest nutraceutical, which has not be tested by the medical field in any way, shape, or form. You may even base your political opinion on events that never happened. At least with a reputable newspaper, facts are checked and editors don't let stories run unless they are confident in the content. That is a far cry from Facebook and other social media sites.

This probably won't be my last post lamenting the loss of printed newspapers. I really just need to make it a habit to read the daily news on my e-reader. I guess it is time to go bookmark that comic-strip page.

I Miss My Sunday Newspaper

I know that for most people the daily newspaper disappeared quite a few years ago. I still subscribed to the Sunday paper as I enjoy spending one day a week browsing through a physical copy of the newspaper. Let's be honest, I browse the paper but read every word of the comics. Yesterday marked the first Sunday in many years that I didn't receive a newspaper.

Last week I cancelled my subscription to the Sunday newspaper because the company is changing how they deliver the paper. Instead of a daily newspaper or just the Sunday one, they are using the postal service to deliver a magazine once a week. If you want the daily news, you can get online access to it. As that doesn't interest me, I cancelled.

Yesterday I woke up and hoped the paperboy had made a mistake and delivered me a newspaper on accident. Unfortunately that didn't happen and so I headed to the breakfast table and tried to figure out something else to do while eating my Sunday morning meal. A quick Internet search revealed that I can get all of my comics online for free. I tried a number of different sites but eventually settled on one that had all of my usual reads.

Interestingly enough, as I stopped reading the daily paper years ago, I didn't realize that a number of the daily comics are actually in color. Now that I have found comics site I like, I may start reading them every day or at least when I have the time.

Reading the Sunday Newspaper

Last night I had the option of sitting down and watching a movie with my wife or reading a book while she read the Sunday paper. I watched a movie with my wife the previous two nights and so I opted to sit down and read a book. I am glad I did as it was very relaxing and enjoyable.

I know that electronic readers like the Kindle and Nook have replaced books while tablets have replaced newspapers. However there is something therapeutic about reading from something that doesn't require batteries. It is also nice to unfold a newspaper and spread it out on a table or ottoman as you can see much more at once than you can with even the largest of tablets.

Several years ago we stopped taking the daily paper and only subscribed to the one on Sunday. Truth be told, I like reading the comics. I'm not the only one as my youngest son used to call dibs on them when I was done. He is now living in Armenia but has asked that we forward him the Sunday comics on occasion. My wife is a bit more thorough with the Sunday paper. She likes to go through all of the ads in search of something interesting. Then she carefully reads each section of the paper paying more attention to certain articles and less to others. When she is done, she folds everything up and puts the paper in our recycle bin.

We are one of the few families I know that still subscribes to a physical newspaper. I think that is pretty sad as some of my fondest memories are from reading the Sunday newspaper when I was young. I enjoy and embrace technology as that is how I make my living. However sitting back on a Sunday evening and watching my wife enjoy reading makes it worth the small price we pay. If you haven't read a real newspaper in a while, spend a few quarters and pick one up. See if you don't feel a satisfaction you don't get from an electronic format. If you do, you may want to think about subscribing. Newspapers really aren't that expensive.

American Newspaper

I left my hotel room this morning to go get breakfast and was glad to see an American newspaper outside my door. I am in Japan and so it wasn't just laying on the floor like most hotels back in the States. It was in a clear plexiglass newspaper holder on the wall just outside the door. As I was coming back from breakfast I started looking at all of the other guests' newspapers. Some were Japanese while others were American. Then I noticed that there were one or two other nationalities represented as well.

When you check into a hotel outside the United States, the hotel asks to see your passport. They will generally make a copy of it before handing it back to you. The hotel also asks you for your home address and so they have a really good idea where you live. There is no need to ask where you are from or what preference you have for your morning newspaper because they already know based on information they already have.

What does this have to do with computers? Well your computer knows an awful lot about you. So do your other electronic devices. If you are watching a movie on your iPhone or tablet computer and walk into an empty room with a television, shouldn't the television take over displaying your movie? You may not want to watch on the TV, but it sure would be nice for your iPhone to at least ask. There are hundreds of other similar examples. If I was willing to spend countless hours downloading various pieces of software and even more hours configuring things, I could make some of them a reality. If only my devices already had the software installed and could discover other devices on their own, it would make my life much easier. I think it would for everyone.