Plus they get an extra $1.50 a week out of us.

However, every U. S. auto company has gone broke except for one. Packard, Studebaker, General Motors, etc.

The Wright brothers didn’t do the finance investing world good either. The airline industry has not returned a profit in the aggregate since Kitty Hawk.

Norfolk Southern, Burlington Northern and other railroads stuck to the ground. They’d be broke too, had they tried to put wings on their locomotives. Instead, they stuck to their own business which they knew and understood.

None of the old ice harvesting businesses have succeeded in refrigeration either.

So, at least I wonder about the long term success of The Globe exiting the traditional newspaper and inventing a successful and profitable model essentially from the ground up.

In 100 years we’ll have to check in on Google, too, and see how it has done over the long haul and if they are exiting the Internet and trying to invent something new.

There is evolution with the same industry. IBM is an example moving along within the evolution and technology of business machines but the function remains the same, just the same as railroads utilizing more efficient locomotives

Essentially they’ve flipped their model. At first you got GlobeReader for free if you wanted the Sunday paper. Now you get the Sunday paper for free if you want GlobeReader.

So, Larz, sort of like the horse farmers who love horses and own trucks, I like newspapers and own computers.

And, I too, like you, hate to think I am in the swirl of a drain.

Larz, I think you made comparison to buggy whips in making a point on a blog a couple of months ago so to avoid using your line even though common expression, I used the tremendous originality of going straight to the horse. The front part of the horse!

They’re also running a half-price, 12 week introductory offer, so chop those prices in half to start.

The full price for Sunday home delivery in the metro plus GlobeReader, Dan’s (and my own) original plan, will be $5 a week, which coincidentally is the same price they charge for the GlobeReader for non subscribers. In effect, you are getting the Sunday paper delivered at no extra charge. Dan, there’s your potential ad-rich Sunday paper business model.

BTW, boston.com is still free for now. Globe Reader is OK, but requires a computer in any event.

I believe there is some value to publishers holding to old standards like good reporting, community leadership and belief in your product.

I hate to think that I am in the swirl of a drain.

Newshound: Horse farmers will always keep horses. They love them, and they also own trucks. Newshounds should have such dedication.

You shouldn’t have to call. If anyone half as smart as you is confused it is too complicated.

Have you ever looked at the advertising rates based on volume, frequency, and numerous other variables and then attempt to compare the cost effectiveness of that with other alternative advertising opportunities? Perhaps not, but just a glance at their “Media Package” may reveal the cause of a prospective migraine headache.

Preparing tax returns should be simple. But buying a news product should require virtually no thought.