Buying Wall Street Journal? Help..

[MrDoug]

I want to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, so which is best for reading and price... Kindle, iPad or Nook version? all suggestions welcome..
Thanks in advance..
Doug..

[Kumabjorn]

I would suggest that you should demand a device independent subscription. You should be able to read it on the device of your choice when it suits you. Not adapt a device to their needs.

[petrucci]

Let me preface this by saying that I do not have a subscription.

If I were going to subscribe it would be to read their articles, rather than see videos and modern content that is available on the net and tv news. I prefer e-ink screens for reading, and thus I would not purchase the i-pad version. Further, I suspect that the ads on the i-pad version would be more obtrusive as they can be in color and have video.

The Kindle version seems to include the ability to get the journal on the i-pad. I assume the i-pad version also includes the ability to read it on the Kindle.

Thus, I think this is really a thread about what you would like to read it on.

[silverraven]

Hubby is old school, we get the paper version!
S

[Bookworm_Girl]

I get the WSJ on my Sony Reader. However, I have purchased a single edition on my Kindle for comparison as well as the Nook. In general I prefer the Kindle for periodicals over the Nook. It is just smoother and better navigation. Sometimes the photo content can be different too. I recommend you buy a single edition from each and do your own comparison. As noted above, the iPad version is included with the Kindle edition. Good luck making a decision!

[vxf]

Originally Posted by petrucci

The Kindle version seems to include the ability to get the journal on the i-pad. I assume the i-pad version also includes the ability to read it on the Kindle.

Actually, a warning - you can read the Kindle subscription of the WSJ on the Kindle app on iPad. And, by the way, you CANNOT read the WSJ on the Kindle for PC app. Which is weird.

But, more importantly, if you subscribe for digital access and use the WSJ app. on the iPad, you will not be able to read it on the Kindle.

I currently have two methods of access. The app. on the iPad and the Kindle subscriptions.

The iPad app benefits, obviously, from a bigger screen, which comes in handy for a newspaper. But the navigation design is not great - the kindle app. has a better index, allowing you to browse article titles by section. Whereas on the iPad you have to jump to each section's front page. Which would not be so bad, but the app. likes to hiccup - background download is iffy - and it freezes occasionally.

The ipad has some extra content (pics and graphs).

Of course, the ipad screen might bother you for long reading (it bothers me, for sure, I am a big eink fan) and the ipad is heavy, compared to a kindle.

The kindle subscription is delivered once a day - although, for a higher price, I believe you can get an evening update now as well (or was that on the SONY?). I have not tried that. But the ipad app. gives you a 'continuous update'. So you get articles as they become available. I guess it depends on how quickly you need your news (then again, if you really need fast news, then you should get the Bloomberg app. for iPad, especially for econ/finance).

The kindle version has spelling and formatting errors. Many. I have not noticed the same problem on the iPad app. I have actually compared some issues with spelling errors on the Kindle and could not find the same errors on the iPad. The most common problem lies in missed spaces. I see a couple of instances of that on most days.

Following holidays, the WSJ on Kindle is always late. Sometimes a whole day late.

The iPad version had full-screen ads that WILL piss you off. Especially the more graphic intensive ones that hang for a sec or two. Or crash the app. Occasionally, an ad will be bugged and crash the app. ever time at the same page, not allowing you to read an article. But, in all frankness, I have had that happen only twice in 18 months of daily reading - or so.

Pricing... well, if you can find some of those offers (like academic subscriptions) I think the iPad digital access would be cheaper. Not sure. I am not paying for it, so I am a bit lost on the pricing.

[vxf]

Almost forgot to say... after all of the above, my conclusion is that there is no perfect version. I prefer reading on eink, thus I prefer reading the WSJ on my kindle. Same for the Financial Times and The Economist.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thanks, vxf! I was thinking of switching to the iPad app but will stick with the Sony e-ink version. Auto-delivery is working flawlessly now with the T2. It's nice to have that fixed.

[GlenBarrington]

That a periodical publisher has to produce such a widely different version for each device that's out there? Or does the 'store' for each device do all the work?

Just WHO is responsible for making sure a given subscriber gets an appropriate version? Can the benefit of being on a moderately popular reader truly outweigh the costs for a magazine publisher?

Is there a generic non DRM epub version? It would seem to me this "Balkanization" of the eReader market is as bad for content providers as it is for the consumers.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

That a periodical publisher has to produce such a widely different version for each device that's out there? Or does the 'store' for each device do all the work?

Just WHO is responsible for making sure a given subscriber gets an appropriate version? Can the benefit of being on a moderately popular reader truly outweigh the costs for a magazine publisher?

Is there a generic non DRM epub version? It would seem to me this "Balkanization" of the eReader market is as bad for content providers as it is for the consumers.

Most newspapers are available through PressReader/PressDisplay for a fixed all-you-can eat monthly price on a device-independent platform.
But the highest profile ones (WSJ, FT, Times, NYT) can make more money by going it alone and taking all of the subscription price, rather than just their share of the PressDisplay subscription. But that means they have to manage their own multiple delivery methods.
It is less of an issue for magazines, where most are available on Zinio, another device-independent platform.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Thanks, vxf! I was thinking of switching to the iPad app but will stick with the Sony e-ink version. Auto-delivery is working flawlessly now with the T2. It's nice to have that fixed.

Wow, that's great news.
I would move back to SONY if they gave me a 3g option. As it is, having to find wifi constantly is a hassle for me. I know I am in a minority, as far as caring for 3g goes, but to me it's a deal breaker.
But I have played around with the T2 and, as far as I can tell, its screen is the best on the market. For that, I am jealous.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

That a periodical publisher has to produce such a widely different version for each device that's out there? Or does the 'store' for each device do all the work?

Just WHO is responsible for making sure a given subscriber gets an appropriate version? Can the benefit of being on a moderately popular reader truly outweigh the costs for a magazine publisher?

Is there a generic non DRM epub version? It would seem to me this "Balkanization" of the eReader market is as bad for content providers as it is for the consumers.

I noticed that the Kindle, SONY and iPad versions all contain (sometimes subtle) differences. But it's obviously more than just converting the same file to a different format.
The most telling is the spelling errors. They are always device-specific. The kindle version seems the worst, in terms of errors, followed by the SONY and the iPad, in that order. But my observations are unscientific. Nevertheless, it's clear that the final editing is device-specific.
The menus and the navigation systems are different in each instance as well. So are the section front-pages. Delivery times are different as well. WSJ on Kindle is out much earlier than the other two daily versions - almost 3-4 hours earlier.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by vxf

Wow, that's great news.
I would move back to SONY if they gave me a 3g option. As it is, having to find wifi constantly is a hassle for me. I know I am in a minority, as far as caring for 3g goes, but to me it's a deal breaker.
But I have played around with the T2 and, as far as I can tell, its screen is the best on the market. For that, I am jealous.

Everyone is focused on how the T2 screen resolution hasn't changed like other brands but whatever they did to the font rendering is really impressive and certainly makes it more "natural" as Sony is marketing it.

[ErikBozon]

I may recommend for reading eInk technology (Kindle, Kobo, nook, sony ...) instead of flat screen (Kindle fire, iPad, Nexus 7)... the level of confort is clearly better on dedicated eInk reader devices.
For the WSJ, There is indeed no perfect solution... if I was you I would move first for Calibre tools or Website like webtoread.com (WSJ Page) before moving to a more expensive subscription solution.