Did you know that it is nearly impossible to find a copy of the New York Times before 8:00 AM in Jersey City, NJ? (That is, if you don't live here and subscribe to the paper.)

Patty and I are spending a few days with Emily and Sheldon in Jersey City, staying in a guest suite in the apartment building Sheldon manages. (Two towers of 37 stories each; about 1,000 residents! It's a big place, called Liberty Towers because it overlooks the Statue of Liberty.)

Anyway. The first morning we were here I woke up at about 5:30, which isn't unusual, and set out to find a newspaper box. I walked for 45 minutes! I saw some very nice residential blocks of Jersey City, which is experiencing a dramatic revival. I found the post office. I walked past an elementary school. During my walk I came across several batches of newspaper boxes, including USA Today and the Daily News, but not the Times! I finally settled on waiting until 8:00 AM, and bought a copy when the convenience store opened around the corner from the apartment building.

So it seems that the Times-reading demographic doesn't buy papers at corner boxes. Or, that the Times management has decided that it's not cost effective to make the paper available that way. Probably that's the case. After all, a newspaper is a 19th century technology of delivering news. A newspaper box is a 20th century technology of delivering the news. Any self-respecting resident of the 21st century wouldn't even be looking for the printed news page! S/he would be firing up his or her laptop, to go to nytimes.com, to read that morning's news. Unfortunately, I am a dinosaur. I don't own a laptop.