A reader once told us he loved buying a Plaindealer out of the newspaper rack because it felt to him like he was winning something, like dropping coins in a slot machine and watching three cherries line up.

That sort of simple satisfaction is one of the things I treasure most about a physical newspaper. There’s something about smoothing the crease in the middle of the newsprint, smudging your fingers with ink. You can enjoy it without having to remember one of your 17 passwords or wonder who’...