Since I typically visit the New York Times website several times each day, and particularly value having access to its archives, I have willingly paid for access since the paywall went up. The other day there appeared in my meatworld mailbox, unsolicited, a simple "virtual reality" device, a little box of corrugated cardboard with two plastic lenses and a velcro fastener, designed to hold a modern iPhone-type device. I downloaded the NYT "virtual reality" app and then this feature, which takes a body on a virtual fly-by and walk-over of the dwarf planet and environs: look down, see the ground, look up, see the stars. Look left, right, behind. It's a little crude, I suppose, measured against the experience that will be freely available in a few years, or available now for the outlay of a few hundred dollars, but I was impressed, and I'm looking forward to exploring some of the other VR features offered on the site (the limiting factor, I assume, will be my phone's installed gigabytage).

The little cardboard viewers, in case the NYT does not plan to provide you with one, can be ordered from various suppliers for trifling sums; in more durable materials for a few dollars more. Non-paywall readers can use one of their free monthly page views to reach the download. I recommend the experience.

cordially,