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This, to me, is a very significant development. The original assumption was that the press would flock to the Kindle – but few of us were aware of the kind of licensing conditions Amazon were imposing.
All newspaper publishers are aware that the only path to survival lies in monetizing their output in different ways. That is a long term process involving identifying their audience and experimenting with differential pricing for access to various material. An example of the way things are going is the Financial Times, which took the web subscription route and is experimenting with monetizing its archives and other information. Murdoch wants to go in the same direction because he realizes that it’s a question of survival.
What that adds up to is that the probability of major newspaper groups allowing Amazon to monopolize – or even have much access to – their subscriber base is zero. Absolutely zero.
So when I come to buy my next liseuse, I may well have a choice between an Amazon device which will not download the daily paper and a range of others which will. That’s not a decision that will take much time.
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