Where does that reference come from…a nice Guy Ritchie film I watched years ago.
Well, this isn’t about Ritchie’s best films (for the record, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is neck and neck with Snatch, in my humble opinion), but it is about something that is in short supply nowadays – paper.
As I mentioned maybe last week, I’ve been going through old boxes and coming across old publications and things I saved over the years. Surprised, I was, at the number of old papers I had saved. Even busted one out when a friend visited and we were reminiscing about being at the 1997 Cocktail Party.
Cool stuff, great memories.
But what’s become a bit of a distant memory…is paper. Actual paper books, paper newspapers, hell, even paper money. I recently rekindled my love of reading books…real books. Not virtual books, the real deal, turn the page and touch paper books. It’s very therapeutic, to be honest.
So…today’s Fodder…what paper thing do you miss? Are you still a connoisseur of the paper touch? Why do you continue to hold fast to traditional feel of things versus caving to the digital versions of what was once commonplace?
Discuss.
JP, funny you mention paper. I just dropped my subscription to our local paper, which had gone from seven days a week a few months ago to know just three days. Well heck, by the time I got my paper, it was two day old news. This after 35 years of sitting on my throne and having a paper to read. Damn I miss it.
Amen. If I could get a current paper delivered to my door for a reasonable price I would. But there aren’t enough of us around to make that profitable.
I feel you bro. We have two rags here in D/FW. Dallas Morning News & Ft Worth Star Telegram. I dropped the Star Telegram (paper) 3-4 years back bc the news was two days old. Started subscribing to the DMN (paper). Ill be damned if their rag isn’t now running two days late – especially on sports! I still take it though. Habit. Some articles/news Im aware of (from two days ago) — some, even though two days old, is news to me. Love walking out in the morning, scratching my nuts, walking through the sprinklers and taking a deep breath of fresh/smog air, to get my paper!
Miss that newspaper in the morning. Just able to read an article or two, always went to sports first. Could see a whole page and pick and choose the story. I think you are dead on about the feel too. It felt like you had more control over your reading!
Forgot paper tickets. I hate them on a phone! Good thing my wife is up on digital. I’d never get in a ballgame!!
For $15.00 the UGAAA will give you a paper season ticket. Been doin’ it for years!
Before Jeff Bezos got carried away with silicone and botox, he said a few sensible things. Back when Amazon was mainly digital books, a few Karens were bemoaning the decline of the paper book. The usual great tragedy type stuff.
Bezos’s response: the book’s had a pretty good run. Been around since Mr. Gutenberg built the printing press. There will always be a place for it. But digital material is progress.
Going out to the curb on a nice morning to pick up the paper was a small pleasure.
The daily newspaper was a dependable part of my day. Digital ticketing would have been number two. I’m about to head to HeartsField can’t forget Jackson and I don’t have stand in line to get a ticket. We replaced that line with TSA.
You can still print a boarding pass if you have to have it.
I love the feel of a good book in my hands. I read enough on screens (including here) every day that I just don’t like digital books. I enjoy stuffing a 700 page novel in my backpack when I go on a business trip or on vacation. I keep that book on my nightstand and read before going to sleep. I don’t like audio books, and I’ve had multiple e-readers. There’s nothing like a real page-turner for me.
Maybe it’s just me, but I also like taking notes by hand rather than rapping keys on a keyboard or turning on a digital assistant to take notes. It makes me listen for what is truly important rather than focusing on typing. Maybe I need to get with the 2020s and take notes by hand and have the digital assistant help me out.
About the 2nd week of August a large envelope would arrive in the mailbox. I got a lot of joy opening that envelope and seeing the season tickets. Getting the email ain’t the same.
100% me. I read an average of 1-2 books per week and I love just lying back and turning the pages, flipping back. Like you, I spend all my time on screens for work.
I miss toilet paper since they sold out during Covid.
Paper bags from the grocery store.
I like my longer-form reads on paper. I stare at a screen way too much at work and my old eyes welcome the break. I prefer taking notes on paper, too. It just feels more comfortable, no doubt because I grew up doing it that way,
A big problem with digital media is it’s not really yours, even if you pay for it. If the distributor wants to take it away from you, it can. And if a site goes dark, the content goes down the memory hole. (I know it’s probably retrievable, but almost certainly not by you or me.)
I also miss paper tickets,but more so from a keepsake standpoint. I was pleased when they sent out commerative tickets for the CFP Championship Game when we beat Bama of you purchased your ticket through UGA.
I also miss the AJC Sunday sports section. Especially during football season. That thing was about the size of a normal newspaper.
Finally, I miss getting Sports Illustrated in the mail each week as a kid. I do still have heartbreak though from that magazine. The week Herschel first made the cover my subscription was renewing and for some reason it caused me to not get that issue. My mom drove around Atlanta trying to buy one, but they were sold out everywhere. That is the only issue I missed over about 15 years of that subscription. I was devastated as a 10 year old Bulldogs fan.
Christie Brinkley was on the cover of my first SI swimsuit cover back in the day … wow.
Sunday AJC of old carried the season stat line of EVERY SINGLE MLB player: at-bats, hits, doubles, triples, HRs, batting average.
Remember in the 70s-80s they ran EVERY high school’s schedule weekly, updating it with most recent game score. In 8 point font, it took up a full page or 2.
Loved reading that Sunday Grizzard and Bisher column.
It’s going to sound stupid and sentimental, but I miss going to my grandmother’s house and eating off paper plates. She had the old wicker paper plate holders right next to the paper plates. I’ve been in 3 star Michelin restaurants that couldn’t hold a candle to the food she made and served on paper plates…
Picking up a copy of Leonard’s Losers (and tear assin’ home on my bike to devour it), also that monthly coupon book that used to come out. I’ve reverted to analog because I like to make notes and highlighting digitally doesn’t do it for me. Also, increased screentime has been a force multiplier with being a certain age to wreck my eyesite. Always thought the hearing would go first but sigh.
Yes, to all the book lovers and page turners. I won’t give up my local newspaper because I so enjoy reading box scores and seeing team standings for all sports.
I deeply miss finishing a Coca Cola, turning over the bottle and reading the place it was bottled and capped. Great fun with my grandfather.
I still write every week on loose leaf college ruled paper with a Pilot G2 7mm ink pen. It has to be that paper and that pen. I need to feel the words come out of my brain, move down my arm and through the pen. The connection matters to me.