mar 14
2007
Times Reader
This isn't gonna go over well: NY Times to charge for Reader.
2 comments
I'm not a communications major or anything.... but isn't selling newspapers really about the advertising? I mean, they started the Tour de France as a publicity stunt to sell newspapers over a hundred years ago....
"The idea of the Tour was to sell copies of L'Auto newspaper, a publicity stunt that was such a success it destroyed the paper's rival Le Velo in the process."
posted by Sandman at 10:20 AM on March 15, 2007 
L'Auto="the car"; Le Velo="the bike". Très symbolique!
Anyway. I don't really understand at all why the NYT is so protective of its content. Surely they'd be able to sell advertising space on their website without having to put it behind lock and key? And besides, they're the New York frigging Times. They've got to have the largest circulation in the western world; don't they make enough profit off of paper subscriptions and sales alone?
Besides that, locking their content, renting out software -- really? -- will only serve to make reading the NYT a huge hassle. No one will want to bother. Additionally, it will make it more difficult for people to quote from the NYT (a long-standing tradition) and point back to it, which will inevitably reduce name recognition, let alone their reputation, among younger generations.
The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be.
posted by Maya at 11:43 AM on March 15, 2007
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