Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
The problem with accessing the web content is that you need to be online to do it, and that is not always possible (or desirable). Downloadable and save-able content is preferable to online content....
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Seems to me the whole point of this device is to be connected a fair amount of the time. Since GQ's estimated circulation is close to 800,000 -- and 7,000 paid downloads @ $3 each is only around $21k in revenues, some of which goes to Apple -- those aren't exactly impressive numbers, certainly not enough to declare the industry as "saved." I'd imagine that browsing a magazine via Safari etc on the iPad will be much more satisfying than on an iPhone. And magazine publishers will be SOL if Instapaper actually catches on. (It might not though, since that is a somewhat geeky extra.)
Newspapers saw dollar signs when the Kindle DX came out, but I think they've gotten a little more down-to-earth since then. The only substantial way to entice users to subscribe
en masse is to erect paywalls on the website, which presents its own series of difficulties.