Thread: Wall Street Journal to cost $18 on the iPad
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Old 03-26-2010, 09:16 AM   #24
Kali Yuga
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonist View Post
Uhm.... You've never heard of Google's First Click Free? I haven't had a subscription to the WSJ for years.
You must not read a lot from the WSJ then, since FCF is now limited to 5 clicks per user, per day.

Also keep in mind that Murdoch and AP are not happy with news aggregators. Don't be surprised if that spigot gets a solid turn some time in the next year or so.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonist
For the rest of the papers, it will be an even harder battle to go paywall.
That does not alter the fact that the current situation is unsustainable.

Print sales are tanking, ad revenues nosedived by 20% for newspapers last year, web ads are not making up for those losses and cannot generate enough revenue, Craigslist and eBay have destroyed the classified market, newspapers have already slashed costs -- e.g. the industry's employment level dropped from a high of 450k employees in 1988 to around 275k, a level it hasn't been at since the 1950's -- and they're still losing money.

These are almost certainly reasons why the NY Times plans to institute a paywall in the next year or so.

Either the papers can figure out a way to generate more revenues, or they will go out of business.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonist
Plus, if I get get all these subscriptions through iTunes, what happens when I see the WeePad and decide that I like it better than the iPad?
You cancel your subscriptions via iTunes, and pick up one on the other device. Or if you have a Kindle subscription, you load up "Kindle for WeePad."

And since the devices don't hoard newspapers (e.g. by default the Kindle wipes them after a week or so), you have a much bigger investment in your other media and app content than with newspapers. Changing your newspaper subscription is the least of your worries in this context.
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