It was a poignant moment for those of us working at Fyshwick early this week to see the printing machinery lifted out of the press hall. We knew it was coming after the decision in July to close the press. But the finality of that enormous equipment being taken away felt heavy.

Each unit of the press weighed about 40 tonnes. Interestingly, that was four tonnes heavier than when they first went in in 2005, due to upgrades in the years since. So it was an even bigger crane that took them out than the one that brought them in, to much interest and celebration 15 years ago.

That was to be the last really big upgrade in our Canberra print publishing story, which began at Mort Street in the city. We printed there from 1926 until 1964, when a new press was installed at Pirie Street in Fyshwick. The editorial and advertising teams didn't follow until 1987.

While reporters and printers didn't cross paths so much in the latter years of electronic page creation as they might've in those old days of typesetting and hot lead, for me the sight of a Bill, Greg or Willie walking into the newsroom dressed in blue to talk about a problem they'd spotted on a page (or brag about a footy result) was, along with the distant rumble of a running press, a reminder we office workers were connected to a very serious trade.

Our press team was a skilled and professional outfit, winning multiple awards over decades for the quality of their work. They seemed to me to adapt quite effortlessly to changes in tech and print format, including our switch from broadsheet to compact in 2016.

Whenever we took a newsroom tour through our building, the printing hall was a highlight for visitors. The team were welcoming and proud to show off their work, including the immaculately clean and well-maintained presses that ran almost all day and all night.

Since April, our printing has been done in Sydney. Consolidation of enormously expensive presses has been a reality for the newspaper industry for a long time now, as more readers opt for digital platforms.

At the exact moment the crane was lowering one of the press units out of the printing hall, we emailed our subscribers to tell them about the launch of our new app. As I said in that letter, readers had been onto us from the moment we launched digital subscriptions to give them back an app. A network of people across our business has worked incredibly hard to get us here, and I'm so grateful for what they've delivered.

While no new web service is perfect on day one, and we'll learn from the suggestions we've received so far, I'm really happy with the overall positive feedback. In our subscriber Facebook group, "fantastic" was the word.

If you haven't already, please download our app via the App store (for iPhone or iPad users) or Google Play (for Android). I know many of you will still want to go to our homepage on your computer as your first choice, or of course to the newspaper on your lawn. Those are platforms that remain hugely important to us.

But give the app a try. You really won't find an easier way to keep up to date than a gentle touch on your screen.