The New York Times has given up with the whole ink and paper thing… well not entirely, but they have moved to AIR. The Times Reader is available on the Adobe AIR platform, allowing users to read the paper on their computer. This may not be anything new, as we’ve been able to read the news online for quite some time now. The Times Reader does however give you the opportunity to take the paper offline.
When connected to the internet, the application automatically updates every 5 minutes to retrieve the latest news for your viewing. You also have the option of to continue viewing your paper even if you go offline, something that can’t easily be done when browsing a traditional news site.
This isn’t necessarily a groundbreaking move, but it does show that traditional media platforms will have to look to new methods of providing their content. The issue in most cases is that it can be difficult to do this and bring in a similar amount of revenue that traditional formats yield. The New York Times is currently offering the reader for free on a trial basis, eventually turning to a payment model where they will charge US$14.95 per month and provide the application free to those already subscribed to the paper. The big question is, will users be willing to pay that much to essentially read news they could find for free on the internet?
So the end of the traditional newspaper is still not upon us, but surely this is another step in that direction… anyone disagree?
UPDATE
An article in The New York Observer discusses the pricing options New York Times are looking at implementing. These include a meter system where they will charge the user depending on the number of words/pages they read, the other involving a membership model.
Even more news on the state of the newspaper industry. A look at a potential newspaper bailout in the US in an attempt to save “journalism”. There is also still talk about the implementation of a micropayment system where users will pay for each bite size chunk of information they view.
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