Comments on: Steven Brill on how to save the New York Times http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:35:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Rob Preece, Publisher http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-1011161 Rob Preece, Publisher Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:43:24 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/02/09/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/#comment-1011161 I think that the micropayment idea could work. Fictionwise makes it work for its own business--you add credits from Visa, etc. and use it to buy books. The problem is, would I pay ten bucks or whatever to have a NYT account? Even though I read the NYT on-line every day, I'm not sure I would--there are a lot of other places to get the news for free. As a publisher, I have to understand the value proposition I offer (in my case, it's affordable novel-length fiction). NYT needs to do the same thing--understand its value proposition and figure out who will pay for that. Trying to get advertiser support and then charge for content might work, but if I'm paying for content, I'm not real big on intrusive ads, and if I'm paying for an ad, I sure want it to be seen. Rob Preece Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com I think that the micropayment idea could work. Fictionwise makes it work for its own business–you add credits from Visa, etc. and use it to buy books. The problem is, would I pay ten bucks or whatever to have a NYT account? Even though I read the NYT on-line every day, I’m not sure I would–there are a lot of other places to get the news for free.

As a publisher, I have to understand the value proposition I offer (in my case, it’s affordable novel-length fiction). NYT needs to do the same thing–understand its value proposition and figure out who will pay for that. Trying to get advertiser support and then charge for content might work, but if I’m paying for content, I’m not real big on intrusive ads, and if I’m paying for an ad, I sure want it to be seen.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

]]> By: Shaarangapanaye http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-1012401 Shaarangapanaye Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:46:13 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/02/09/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/#comment-1012401 Knowledge is power and also a cost saving tool for the future. Read my sig for more info on getting faster more efficient and targetted search results with one simple step. Knowledge is power and also a cost saving tool for the future. Read my sig for more info on getting faster more efficient and targetted search results with one simple step.

]]> By: Bill McHale http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-1011449 Bill McHale Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:36:06 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/02/09/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/#comment-1011449 Lets make this very simple for all concerned. There are too many sources of information out there and people on the internet are too used to getting information for free for micropayments or subscriptions to work... ever. I use to read the NY Times online regularly until such point as they tried to make me pay for "Premium" content. Once that happened I switched to the Washington Post; I started reading it again when they dropped the attempt to get me to pay. Articles are not like music. The vast majority of people buy music to listen to over and over again. Therefore spending 99 cents for a tune is reasonable. I read an article once onece and never again. I might pay one or two dollars to buy an actual newspaper, but to read online? Why when there are other free papers around the world available for free. In simple terms, if the NY Times and other papers cannot find a business model that allows them to give away their content, then other news sources will find a way. Lets make this very simple for all concerned. There are too many sources of information out there and people on the internet are too used to getting information for free for micropayments or subscriptions to work… ever.

I use to read the NY Times online regularly until such point as they tried to make me pay for “Premium” content. Once that happened I switched to the Washington Post; I started reading it again when they dropped the attempt to get me to pay.

Articles are not like music. The vast majority of people buy music to listen to over and over again. Therefore spending 99 cents for a tune is reasonable. I read an article once onece and never again. I might pay one or two dollars to buy an actual newspaper, but to read online? Why when there are other free papers around the world available for free.

In simple terms, if the NY Times and other papers cannot find a business model that allows them to give away their content, then other news sources will find a way.

]]> By: Brian Carnell http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-1011137 Brian Carnell Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:33:59 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/02/09/steven-brill-on-how-to-save-the-new-york-times/#comment-1011137 Micropayments are stupid. Will. Never. Work. The problem with newspapers now is precisely that they want me to pay to subscribe to a single newspaper now and maybe in the future pay to read a single article. Dumb and dumber. Instead, what the New York Times and others need to do is aggregate their newspaper holdings and create mini-Lexis Nexis portals for a low monthly cost. Would I pay .10 an article at NYT? No. Would I pay $10/month to access a full search aggregation of the various papers owned by the NYT? Probably. Get enough papers together and then split the revenues based on a percentage basis of which newspapers are actually getting read (so if 40% of articles being read are from NYT, they get 40% of revenue, etc). Personally, I don't care because I have free Lexis-Nexis access, but if I didn't such a low cost service would be very appealing. Micropayments are stupid. Will. Never. Work.

The problem with newspapers now is precisely that they want me to pay to subscribe to a single newspaper now and maybe in the future pay to read a single article. Dumb and dumber.

Instead, what the New York Times and others need to do is aggregate their newspaper holdings and create mini-Lexis Nexis portals for a low monthly cost. Would I pay .10 an article at NYT? No. Would I pay $10/month to access a full search aggregation of the various papers owned by the NYT? Probably. Get enough papers together and then split the revenues based on a percentage basis of which newspapers are actually getting read (so if 40% of articles being read are from NYT, they get 40% of revenue, etc).

Personally, I don’t care because I have free Lexis-Nexis access, but if I didn’t such a low cost service would be very appealing.

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