Just three days after this issue hits the street, we’ll see the end of an era — and the beginning of a new epoch in New Orleans.

On September 30, the news as we know it will end forever. Our Times-Picayune, the newspaper we’ve depended on for news well before I’ve been alive, will cease publishing every day. Theoretically, the news will now be presented in the T-P’s digital format on NOLA.com. Frankly, I’ve never been one to read the news online; I just don’t like the format. But still, I can’t think of anyone I know under 35 who read the newspaper daily. They get their news online.

Yes, I do read the Huffington Post (not exactly what I’d call hard news). I look at NOLA.com briefly, maybe once or twice a week. I subscribe to CNN and the AP news feeds, and locally, FOX 8 and WWL. But these are more for breaking news. The internet is really great for that, as far as I’m concerned. The nature of technology and the near-instantaneous dispersion of “hot” news has totally changed the way we get topical information. Instead of print, we use the web, although television and radio are still able to break into my consciousness — when I’m tuned in.

News on the web can permeate our everyday existence, because most of us have cell phones; and an increasing number of news consumers now subscribe to Facebook and Twitter.

But web news — at least at this point in time — can’t hold a candle to a newspaper, in my opinion, and here’s the best reason why: the web is geared toward quick and dirty, short and sweet, headline news. We won’t be able to access the paper every day for news that we wouldn’t have necessarily paid attention to. You can only do that by scanning the printed page. I’ll miss that opportunity.

If you read OffBeat, you’ll notice that we have changed our coverage of music and culture over the decades. We’re not averse to the digital age. Our website has been active for more than 15 years. The Weekly Beat newsletter is going on 11 years old. Our Facebook and Twitter followers are increasing daily. If you want to know what’s happening in a local club or venue, we have apps for that. But OffBeat’s mission has been more to promote in-depth appreciation of our music and culture, and I don’t think that the move to digital is going to change that. There are still many important reasons why print should be a part of your news acquisition process: in-depth exposure to information outside your comfort zone and local area (Do New Orleanians realize that there’s a whole world outside the metro area?).

I’ll miss my daily newspaper. I have no choice now but to try to read my news online, and that bothers me, and it’s not something I’m looking forward to. I’m certainly not a technophobe, or unwilling to try something new, but I’ll miss the ability to cozy up to my paper every day with my coffee. Adieu, T-P! It was a great 175 years.