Solving the newspaper subscription crisis with plastic

I was thinking about the dropping numbers of newspaper circulation everywhere as I bought today’s LA Times at the store. I’m part of the problem - I don’t subscribe to a newspaper, despite the fact that I like reading a physical paper.

Most of the time, what gets in the way is convenience. I don’t buy the paper every day because it’s 50 cents and I have to go out and get it somewhere. If I get it from a stand I have to use quarters, which I need for laundry.

When I get to Oxy, there are free copies of the paper provided in the dorms (or “Residence Halls”), but I can’t get into those anymore because I don’t live on campus. So either I find a copy lying around campus or I actually go out and buy it.

But what if there were two subscription options at the LA Times? What if I could subscribe for pick-up instead of delivery? The Times has a stack of papers at most of the stores I go to, so what’s the difference to them if they deliver it to the main entrance of my apartment or if I pick it up myself?

I think they should have an option where they mail you a card that lets you pick up one copy of the newspaper every day, from any vendor. That would be a sweet system. Eventually, the sidewalk drop-boxes could be retrofitted to take the card, so anyone with a card subscription could stop through and pick up a newspaper anytime.

Cool, huh? I think it should happen.