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0 pointsKon5ole7mo ago0 comments

One of the many surprising things on that list is that paperboys still exist!

I thought printed papers were all but dead even in the US and can't recall the last time I saw a stand or store where I could buy one. They faded away unceremoniously, like phone booths.

That there is enough money in it to motivate kids to get up in the morning still today I would never have guessed.

Also astonishing are the size and presence of the various fees! Around here a 5 dollar fee for invoicing is the highest I've seen, and it raises eyebrows even among the Mercedes/BMW crowd because everyone knows it doesn't cover any actual additional costs, so it's basically a scam. A way for companies to say "interest free" while still collecting interest.

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reaperducer7mo ago

I thought printed papers were all but dead even in the US

In its last financial statement, the New York Times reported 600,000 print subscribers. (Plus something like 20 million paid online subs.)

Newsstands are mostly gone (though there are a few), but my experience over the last few years is that outside of tourist areas, print newspapers are available at most chain drug stores, book stores, and some gas stations. The more urban you are, the more likely you are to find them. They also remain popular in ethnic communities. I recently picked up a monthly printed newspaper in Japanese that is distributed in the DC area.

I can think of five places with six blocks of me that sell newspapers (two drug stores, two bodegas, and a bookstore).

The latest Superman movie even did a PR stunt where the movie company printed up thousands of Gotham newspapers with Superman headlines and distributed them to newspaper racks. I saw them at Walgreens.