Julio Ojeda-Zapata writes that the Pioneer Press “will soon offer an e-edition of the paper that looks just like the dead-tree version.”
The e-edition will be available at a special introductory subscription rate, with seven-day delivery over 26 weeks for $26.65, or 52 weeks for $53.30.
This is interesting for a number of reasons. They’re going to start charing for what’s already free on their website but in a digital format that only makes sense on paper. Presumably, you’ll now be able to pay a premium to have a format that less searchable, doesn’t get corrected or updated the same way a normal paper doesn’t and ultimately cannot be linked to or aggregated. You’ll have news in a format that’s probably just as isolated and contained as the paper version.
I’ve never perused such an e-paper (there are others) but I’m told it’s designed for easy navigation from page to page and section to section. A 30-day search and easy-on-the-eyes features are part of the deal — which isn’t free (sorry).
Well, we’ll see. You can do a search on the website the way it is now. And why don’t they implement the easy-on-the-eyes features on twincities.com?
I may not understand their strategy, but my guess is that they’re aiming at a market of people that want the paper version of the Pioneer Press that aren’t comfortable with using the twincities.com website to get their news. If that’s the case, this is not the right solution to the problem, IMHO. Perhaps I’m living in a bubble but I can’t think of anyone that would want to pay for this.
Update 01 Oct 07: Julio Ojeda-Zapata updated his post responding to Garrick Van Buren and I
Comments 4
It’s not the format that keeps people from reading the PP onpline today. It’s the registration.
Posted 28 Sep 2007 at 16:13 ¶Er, that “easy on the eyes” situation, as I understand it, is the digital equivalent of a large-text book to assist those who might regard regular text as too squint-inducing.
Posted 28 Sep 2007 at 16:22 ¶Ed-
Good point. I forgot about the days where I refused to create a twincities.com account.
Julio-
Interesting, and thanks for posting. Despite my cynicism above, I am genuinely curious as to how the Pioneer Press launches this. I have seen a few interesting examples, but most of them end up behind a pay-wall after a couple clicks. I think there’s a ton of great ideas out there on how to make ads work online without having a pay-wall for online content. It’s also surprising to hear when the New York Times just removed their pay-wall for online content and the WSJ is rumored to be doing the same…. both in the name of making more money with ad revenue versus payments from readers.
I’m very curious as to how it’ll pan out.
Posted 28 Sep 2007 at 16:32 ¶i used to work at the star tribune (as off last year) and they would send the e-version out to employees everyday. it was not as bad as i imagined it to be, but basically felt like, if i wanted to read the paper, i would do that. if i wanted something digital i would read it online. i can’t imagine anyone actually subscribing to it.
Posted 01 Oct 2007 at 07:56 ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
[...] Every couple of years, the idea of delivering a frozen PDF instead of a living, breathing website hits my radar. This is the first time it hit’s this close to home. Pioneer Presumably, you’ll now be able to pay a premium to have a format that less searchable, doe… [...]
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