And if we were waiting for the newspaper, we wouldn't know about it until tomorrow.

The problem with newspapers is once you get it, you're reading out-of-date news.

I can visit the website of my local news station and get up to the minute headlines that I would've had to wait until the next day to read about. Sure, I could watch the nightly news, but I have trouble listening to the phony voices of our local newscasters (although I always hope to catch one of those legendary on-air flubs, like the female newscaster who turned to the weatherman and asked, "So, Bob, where's that eight inches you promised me last night?").

My mobile phone has a button on it. Just one button press and I'm on the headlines page. I subscribe to news feeds on Twitter, so when big stories break, I get a text message. I also subscribe to the Mars Rover and the Cassini Probe at Saturn, and I get updates on the new planetary data as soon as they send it. Now that's just cool.

The Sunday classifieds are even being supplanted by Craigslist.com and job search websites. It's a bit sad. I wrote for my college paper and it was always exciting to pick up a copy and see my byline. It's not quite the same logging onto the school paper website to see it, but that's the way things are heading. I won't be sorry to see journalism make a switch completely to new media. The amount of paper saved everyday is enough to console anyone with a smidge of environmental concern.

Alas, newspaper. You did your duty while you were needed. And I hope to put that paper to good use by getting my books published.