Like the ‘look’ of a paper newspaper?

Many of our readers — particularly older readers like me — tell us they want to read a “real” ink-on-paper newspaper they can turn the pages of rather than an online version. Well, we have to tell you, the luxury of a continued ink-on-paper issue is costing the Town Crier more than $60,000 a year producing just online versions. That’s more than 600 Town Crier regular Memberships, right there.
Actually, apart from an ink-on-paper version, Town Crier Members have three different ways to read the TC online with an ordinary computer, tablet or cellphone. One is a website-appearing version, but the other two both let you see each page of the TC exactly like it looks on paper: one that lets you flip the pages side to side, and another — my favorite — a PDF file that lets you easily and seamlessly scroll from page to page.
I’d like you all to try the PDF version. If you already have a TC Membership, you can try it right now. You already receive an email from us — usually on Tuesday afternoons (Wednesdays, when Monday is a TC Holiday) — telling you that the Town Crier is ready to be read online, no matter where you live. That’s a bonus feature of reading the Town Crier online — you get it a day early.
A Town Crier page in PDF format looks just like an ink-on-paper page. It blows up clear and sharp when you click on the “+” sign. Select the size you want once, and it reads virtually like a regular paper from then on. To turn pages, you just drag two fingers (index and middle) to scroll down from the first page all the way to the last. That’s even easier than turning pages in a print-on-paper issue. Couldn’t be easier, and it couldn’t look and read more like a “real” newspaper.
Of course, “real” newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Idyllwild Town Crier are commonly read online these days. So, if you haven’t tried it lately, please give it a shot. And if you like it, consider emailing Becky at [email protected] to opt out of the ink-on-paper version entirely in favor of the online version. It may turn out to be the difference between losing a real newspaper and keeping a real newspaper serving our Hill community online.
Becky and I are in our 10th year of working to save the Town Crier. So, please, please, give reading the TC online a try, and let us know what you think.