Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Stop the presses!

I met someone new today.

His name is Jim Shelton.  He's a writer for our local newspaper, the New Haven Register.  He's been there twenty-eight years!  Way back when there were no Internet...or computers for that matter!  Articles were typed on one of these (for you young 'uns who've never seen one)...


He's doing a piece on moving...and all the "fun" that goes along with moving your crap from point A to point B.  We talked for a half hour.  Probably the easiest half hour of chatting I've done with someone new.  I told him about the time I moved from Cheshire to New Haven when Matt was a baby.  How my brother Jim and his buddy Attila threw my mattress out my second floor bedroom window because "It was easier to do it that way." And how they took a dance break on the roof of the U-Haul when C&C Music Factory came on the radio!  Then he video interviewed me for the website...and I didn't sound like a goober!

We talked about writing and how blogging is the way to go now.  There's no way to get into a newspaper without a bachelor's degree.  But what really bothers me is the fact people aren't reading or buying newspapers anymore!  We get instant news on Yahoo or Twitter. We have it coming right to our iPhones and Blackberries.  Who wants to read what happened the next day? 

Here's where newspapers totally rock over iPhones...
  • Can you potty train your puppy on an iPhone?
  • Can your cat lay on it in such a way, that no matter what you're trying to read, you can't?
  • Can you walk up to someone intently reading an article and knock it out of their hands?
  • Can you start a blazing fire with one?
  • Does an iPhone have that "rustle" (wait, there must be an app for that)?
You get my point.  And what about guys like Jim who do this for a living?  Stop buying newspapers and his job is gone...along with a few thousand other people. 

Pick up a newspaper the next time you hit Dunkin' Donuts on your way to work.  Put your smart phone away and support the local guys.  I know they'd appreciate it.

And thanks Jim for the words of encouragement (told ya I'd put you in my blog!!).  :)

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