When I heard that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was one

Seattle Paper Dies After 146 Years

of the first major newspapers to stop its printing presses, I thought back to those old 50′s television shows like “Leave It To Beaver” or “Father Knows Best” and the father coming home to prop his feet up, so he could relax with the evening paper.  Remember when there used to be 2-editions a day?

Well, an old neighborhood paper of ours is announcing that it has succumbed to the economy and the pressures of online delivery.  The Ann Arbor News in Michigan is the latest newspaper to announce it is stopping their print version.  The company will lay off workers it doesn’t need and will restructure as an online outlet.

Though it has been a long time since dad’s came home from work and kicked their feet up by the fire to read a paper.  It is sad to think that those more relaxing days will be gone.  The nice thing about a newspaper (beside the fact that you don’t burn a hole in your lap with it) is that it has an end.  When you’ve run through the stories, you can then get up and eat dinner with the family and take care of some activities.  It was an escape.

Now with Internet news, you come home, sit down at the computer and get lost in news, work, social media, games and other distractions.  A computer’s power is limitless.

So, while another company laying people off in Michigan or during a bad economy is sad.  And while it is disappointing to see another industry fade to history…it is also very sad to know we are moving one step closer to absorbing into our computers and away from everything else.