A selection of your responses to news of our move online

Over the next few weeks, I will try to persuade our treasured print readers to join us in the digital world

The final edition of the paper - in its printed form - will be on Saturday 26 March (Getty Images)

Well I can’t say that you were delighted about the news that our last print edition will be on 26 March. In fact, many of you were as sad and despondent as those of us in the office.

I usually try to make this letter upbeat and jaunty, on the grounds that Saturday morning is my favourite time of the week, and possibly yours. But given this is your newspaper, and that – as Richard Askwith, our Associate Editor, put it – our readers are the best thing about The Independent, I really ought to give you your due.

Mr Edwards, with whom I corresponded after last year’s general election, said he was “profoundly saddened”. He doubted there would be anyone left to “[speak] up for what is radical, innovative and right at just the time when this egregious Tory government seeks to impose a generational hegemony of right-wing prejudice on our society.”

Uli from north London spoke for many: “New technology is fine for some, but what about the rest of the readership? Have you thought of those who can’t access the internet, who have no computer, or who don’t possess a fancy mobile? The elderly, possibly with arthritis, who can’t or don’t want to deal with ‘apps’?”

Ann from Oxfordshire concurred. “At 81 [I] spend most hours of the day in front of my PC engaged in typesetting and editing,” she said. “There’s no way I could spend an extra hour or more reading a newspaper on screen.”

Mr King said we were “missing a trick” and should publish a weekly: “A cross between Independent, Radio Times and Paris Match.” Mr Campbell, from Dorchester, though disappointed by our editorials on the Middle East, said: “Thank you very much for publishing this excellent newspaper as long as you have been able.”

Mr Goodwin, in an email with the subject line “Sorry and best wishes”, wrote: “Many in my generation dread having to read online unless the technology (or my technology!) improves. I owned a first copy of The Independent just after leaving school. Please keep inspiring us with your paper’s fresh perspective (far more manageable and intelligible than The Guardian!).”

In one of my favourite messages, ironically conveyed via a form on our website, the wonderfully named Mr Goodbrand said: “I have taken The Independent since it was first published. I draw your attention to the second part of the word ‘NewsPAPER’.”

These and others I’ll do my utmost to respond to in the coming months. Over the next few weeks, I will try to persuade our treasured print readers to join us in the digital world. For now, I hope you enjoy what, if I may say, is another strong Saturday edition. Have a great weekend.

Twitter: @amolrajan