Sometimes I think the publishing industry must be totally clueless. Notepads (Apple or Android) represent possible salvation for their industry, and then a magazine like the New Yorker proves they just don't get it. If you desire, you can purchase a print subscription to the New Yorker for about $2 per week; if you want an electronic iPad subscription you must pony up an additional ... that's right ... an additional $5 per week.
Obviously the monocle is frosted or cracked ...
Sports Illustrated is the same. If you buy a yearly subscription you get each issue for about $1, but if you want to buy an issue for your ipad you need to pay the retail value of $4.99 each time with no possibility of buying an online yearly subscription. Whats more is if you own a subscription (like me) you still have to pay to download an given issue to your ipad.
What allows many magazines to do this though is the fact that many magazines, unlike newspapers, have not been as significantly hurt in terms of circulation numbers with the onset of the internet. Thus with their economic survival not threatened, they lack the motivation to try and innovate effectively.
Perhaps new and emerging magazine will take advantage of this new technology (which can provide more content at a potentially cheaper price to subscribers) which could then force the old established magazine to have to adapt, but until then, Economically they will not be forced to see the error of their ways.
Posted by: Carl Hoeg | September 28, 2010 at 02:55 PM