San Jose Mercury News: Apple to launch newspaper subscriptions

By on Sep 15, 2010 at 12:39 PM
Rumor September 15, 2010

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that Apple is planning “a new subscription plan for newspapers” for their iDevices that will be launched “soon.” The paper does not cite specific sources, but claims the service will have a similar pay structure to the one used in Apple’s App Store, with content providers will keep 60% to 70% of generated revenues. “The Cupertino company has agreed to provide an opt-in function for subscribers to allow Apple to share with publishers their information, which includes vital data that news organizations use to attract advertisers,” writes the Mercury News. We’re interested to know, would you purchase a newspaper subscription on an iPad or Android tablet?

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  • Android

    OK, that’s it, I give in. There’s just no way others will compete with this juggernaught, B.

    • phoghat

      It seems that way. Still, the high price of admission to the party is still making me wait for a viable Android tablet. Please don’t point me to an Archos 7 Home, the device and software are clunky at best. I know I bought one.

      • http://worldturns.wordpress.com Barry O’Toole

        It could be a loooonnngg wait (for a viable Android tablet i.e.)!

  • PAPINYC

    This will be great in Central Park when we get free wi-fi because, Michael owns an iPhone.

  • Biggles

    “We’re interested to know, would you purchase a newspaper subscription on an iPad or Android tablet?”

    Or would I just opt to get news on my web connected device from one of the countless free sources (cnn.com, usatoday.com, etc) rather than pay for a digital print?

    • Jarrett

      @ Biggles,

      I believe the idea is the local papers and their attempts to stay relevant. Surely the larger publications will do this as well. Things can be gotten for free sure but if their is a chance content providers can earn money from their work they are going to try.

      Tomorrow though you can let you boss know that he doesn’t have to pay you anymore. You have decided that monetary rewards are no longer needed to keep you as a dedicated employee.

    • phoghat

      I read a couple or 3 science fiction magazines that I subscribe to on Fictionwise.com. Their websites don’t have new content or the whole content. I read them on my damned Archos when I wrestled it ((2 falls out of 3) into submition.

  • PAPINYC

    For the record, “no”, I would not subscribe; we get free papers on the subway in NYC that riders leave behind, i.e., New York Times; Daily News; New York Post; etc. Why pay for something you’re more than likely to trash by the end of the day?

    • Jarrett

      “Why pay for something you’re more than likely to trash by the end of the day?”

      If everyone thought that way do you really think their would be any publications to pick up off the floor that someone else was kind enough to pay for so you could read the news? How many burgers or hotdogs do you get that way?

      People being scumbags, isn’t life great.

    • Jarrett

      “Why pay for something you’re more than likely to trash by the end of the day?”

      If everyone thought that way do you really think their would be any publications to pick up off the floor that someone else was kind enough to pay for so you could read the news? How many burgers or hotdogs do you get that way?

      • serpentor

        Exactly the way an Apple fanboy would argue. Jarrett, a hotdog isn’t the same as a paper. I guess it’s too complicated a concept for an Apple user to understand – that’s why Apple products are so simple I guess.

      • Jarrett

        So the news content producers don’t deserve to make money but the hotdog vender does?

      • serpentor

        If people are buying then yes, but people aren’t buying papers anymore. Hotdogs are a better business.

        And think of what you’re talking about – “news content.” Unless you’re FOX news, you don’t make up news. You can add value to a news story, like editorials and commentary. Or you can uncover a story, but you still don’t own what happens in the world.

  • Jarrett

    Getting involved in the tablet space is becoming increasingly more difficult by the day. Five and a half months ago Apple started this “new” wave of tablets with no one showing a competitive product yet. With the PC it was easy:

    Some company built a personal computer, okay, we will build one too.

    Apple builds the next generation MP3 player, okay, we will build one too. Wait, people want a centralized location to store media, okay, we will build……..what, what do you mean we can’t do that?

    Apple shows the world where the smart phone is going, okay, we will go too. Got our me too OS, check, got our Apps, check, wait, people want centralized media still………. damn it, could someone please get this done already.

    This product is increasingly difficult to “copy” because before the “competition” can release anything Apple is still adding too it. Someone needs to get something comparable shipped or it will be virtually impossible to be viable in this space.

    • Dara

      Everything must be so refreshing from your perspective. When Apple deigns to release something, it’s like you’re seeing the future without leaving home.

      Just so you know, not everyone wants centralized media and those who do have already come up with a million implementations that cover every shade of centralization that you could want.

      It’s great that you’re waiting for Apple on this, and it’s great that no matter what they come up with it will delight and amaze you, but your opinions are wildly uninformed.

      • Jarrett

        @ Dara,

        I completely agree that NOT EVERYONE may want centralized media. That fact is though that people buying iOS devices are buying them for this reason.

        A corporation is not going to have the effect or create an ecosystem for their wares unless they have something that tie it all together.

        It’s why HTC nor Motorola will ever have a dominate product base with Android.

        It is also comical that you get all worked up about what you perceive I “feel” about Apple or not. Nokia does the exact same thing business wise. Yes they are overly more open than Apple and they give their customers more options but it is the same business. Giving your customers reasons to stay customers is the reason a business succeeds.

        If anyone wants to know why Apple is successful it is the software, it has little to do with the hardware. KISS and you customers will appreciate that after they are done doing what they have to do they get to enjoy what they want to do.

        5% of the world cares to tinker with tech, the other 95% of us want to tinker with life. That is very common knowledge, it is just a shame that more companies can’t figure this out. If they would I could make more money in the tech sector.

      • http://worldturns.wordpress.com Barry O’Toole

        Well said, Jarrett!

      • Dara

        There aren’t that many people buying iOS devices.

        I’m not worked up about your feelings for Apple, I’m just pointing out that they needlessly cloud your opinions. Also, your perspective is pure end user, you have no consideration for ROI on tech and can’t even contemplate that “tinkering” can more than pay for itself.

        And Nokia is NOTHING like Apple. They are competing in the same space, but that’s where the similarity ends.

        When Apple decides that you can take iOS apps and run them on a Mac, then they would be one step towards Nokia. I say “decide” because there’s almost no effort involved, it’s just a fruit waiting to be picked. It seems though that Apple would rather let it rot on the tree rather than giving their customers any unnecessary freedom. Freedom to Apple is missed profits.

        When they go out of their way to make sure that iOS apps compile on any platform, then they’ll be like Nokia. Which is to say, they would have a genuine interest in giving their customers as much freedom as possible.

  • joe

    Why would I pay?

    Aren’t there anymore free sites with news? I can’t see paying for an online version of newspaper print.

    • Jarrett

      Okay, so don’t pay for but also, don’t go looking for that institutions news either. If you don’t want to be a payer, then you definitely don’t need to be a reader.

  • Roger

    “We’re interested to know, would you purchase a newspaper subscription on an iPad or Android tablet?”

    Never in a million years.

    1. Newspapers are biased.
    2. Newspapers arrogantly thought they weren’t susceptible to the Internet, so they shunned it. For that they should be punished.
    3. There are countless free options available now, so I’d be stupid to pay for biased content from dumbasses who thought the Internet would just “go away”.
    4. I hate newspapers (obvious, I know).

    Not even the mighty Apple can save newspapers.

    • Jarrett

      Apple doesn’t need to save newspapers. Surely as a business they would like to “help” any industry that would help them sell more product. If they can make money from that industry while selling more iOS devices then I suppose they would consider that a perk.

  • RealDeal

    I see Rupert Murdoch has gotten to Steve Jobs

    • phoghat

      Ruuuuuppppopeerrrtttttt!

  • Rob

    Apple is far ahead in the tablet game. Not only will competitors have to create a device to match, now they will have to start negotiating with media outlets. Goodluck with that…Apple wins again

    • meske

      Actually, if you look at the trend, more and more Amazon seems to be the “content provider” alternative to iTunes. And I’m a huge fan of how Amazon implements their service. You can do everything from the web, and have a small download client that tracks and organizes everything for you. No need for the iTunes bloat.

      And, with Amazon, what they have works on ANY platform, and not just Apple products.

      At the end of the day, it seems Apple is less connected to the “web” and more of an thick client software company. I was assisting a friend set up an Airport Extreme the other day, and was blown away that you needed an app to configure it. Every other non apple AP or router I’ve worked with, ever, was configurable through the browser.

      • KEnt

        If your setting up a network on a browser, I assume you feel it’s safe, right? It’s better and more secure to set up a network inside your own computer with an app than to go out on the net to set it up, especially with all the known IE exploits.

  • mario

    @Roger,

    so all newspapers are bias, and you hate them all? where are all these other free news options that aren’t bias? blogs? tv news channels? public radio?

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

    • http://worldturns.wordpress.com Barry O’Toole

      Only one place for fair and balanced news. /s

  • mario

    @Roger,

    so all newspapers are bias, and you hate them all? where are all these other free news options that aren’t bias? blogs? tv news channels? public radio?

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Seattle Seattle, WA, USA

  • phoghat

    All news is biased to one degree or another. Using intelligence read the one that seems less biased. For example I don’t watch FOX news or listen to Limbaugh. Even Jon Stewart is biased, but at least he means it to be funny.

  • Mike Tyson

    Why is everyone saying they wouldn’t pay. If the price is reasonable ie: comprable to current subscriptions I say why not. Does the media always give people the full story? Nope! Are they bias? Yep! But I will pay for the mainstream media and combine that info with whatever other information is out there such as blogs and what not and try to get the whole story. There is still quality journalism in the WashingtonPost, NYTimes, LATimes, WSJ (just to mention a few). And for that quality they should get paid. And if non-traditional news outlets want to go with this business model and charge I say more power to them. Free is great, but lets not be greedy and expect everything for free even if that is the case right now.

    • http://worldturns.wordpress.com Barry O’Toole

      You get what you pay for!

  • Eric

    I get the newspaper for the Sports page and the coupons. I don’t think they will be able to do the coupon part so that won’t do me much good. I am guessing they will charge just as much for the online edition (or a little less) and I wouldn’t get the coupons so why bother?

    • 4phun

      @Eric
      The iPad does Sports in spades!

      It seems everyone is offering digital coupons now so coupons are these are more convenient than clipping a copy from a dead tree. so the iPad wins again.

      Look at Kroger grocery for instance. There are far more coupons online each week than in print at Kroger.

      A digital newspaper could offer to link to these coupons as part of their Kroger ad. Kroger’s computers note which coupons you choose and credit your Kroger card so when you pass through checkout the offers selected are automatically debited from their cash register sum as a bonus saving.

      I print Kroger’s advertising PDF to an iPad friendly PDF using Mac OS X and carry it with my annotations while shopping.

      If clerks in a certain store don’t have a clue do to internal store error, I just show them the iPad screen and make them give me the offer that is not available to any one else at that store

  • Norm

    Id pay for it on a DROID but i hate apple and can only assume it would suck with them. I mean DROID is open source and therefore better. DROID+ VZW FTW!!!!!

    • Rob

      Droid ain’t getting it unless google starts signing contracts with these media companies. That’s why apple is ahead…superior products with exclusive content.

      • beenyweenies

        That’s mostly true, but it’s not the whole picture. They sell far fewer laptops and desktops than other companies, but because they charge an enormous premium for them they have much better profit margins. Same goes with the iPhone. By the end of the year they will probably be behind Android phones, Nokia and Blackberry in units sold, but they won’t care because they make an insane profit on each device sold.

        Do their competitors sell more laptops, desktops and phones because they are superior to Apple’s products? No, it’s because they price those items so that regular people can afford them. Those devices will always outsell Apple, but with smaller profit margins and with less fanfare because their devices are more practical than “magical.”

        Not every product needs to be “superior” across the board, or have exclusive content, to be a tremendous success. They only need those things if they plan to offer luxury devices at inflated prices like Apple does. It’s just different business models.

  • Simon

    Definitely like the sound of this…..bring it on.

  • sam

    Neither

  • Cisco Kidd

    Oh boy, a worthless rag in electronic form is so much better to read. Looking for their inevitable bankruptcy (MediaNews Group, not Apple).

  • http://blog.gurski.org emag

    Will I still be able to wrap fish or spread it out on a table for a crab feast? Tear into strips to do papier mache w/ the nephews? Line a bird cage? No? Those are the only times I buy a paper…when I need the *paper* part. I suppose I’m missing out on coupons, though.

    • KEnt

      No wonder the American electorate is so stupid.

  • http://diossince1987.com Champ22

    once they add GQ, ESPN and WIRED to a subscription plan at the same price point as print im in…..hell i might even cave in and buy the iPad 1 instead of waiting for the second one…its that real son

  • Brad

    Have an i Pad but bought a Kindle 3 and read the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Chicago Tribune ( whatever there is left to read there) on it. Much better experience reading that way and use the iPad for rich content, embedded videos etc on those sites. Prices are fair enough relative to print editions- free is not a business model. If you want quality content, you’re gonna have to get hip to paying for it. Ad supported models don’t get the job done- combo of ad/ subscriptions might. Times will start putting up some type of pay wall next year. Investigative journalism, quality writers, economic research and insight- distinctive content can and should be charged for. The days of everything for free just bc it’s on the interwebs are coming to and end. You want quality, you should be willing to shell out for it…anywhere.

  • Ben

    In the Uk I subscribe to the Times through the app store. It’s £10 for 90 days. Looks great on the iPad and there are also extras like videos.

  • JKR

    Anyone remember that seen from i,Robot with will smith where the guy was reading the newspaper that was playing videos on it, OMG that movie was right, apple is going to create the iBot (because its ‘hipper’ than iRobot) and then they will kill us all…. FUUUU–!!!

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