For a device that has already redefined the way some of us consume our news (Wired, New Yorker, RSS), the iPad has yet to solve the subscription-based pricing conundrum. Print subscriptions for popular magazines come in at a substantially cheaper rate than purchasing the same publication digitally on your iPad. The cost of a Wired subscription is $39.00 USD for a year. The cost of a Wired magazine on your iPad started at $5.99 USD, then went to $4.99 USD, and is now at $3.99 USD per issue. Once it’s divvied up, the digital model is still a ten dollar premium over the print-based edition. That’s also assuming that you’ve managed to get the yearly subscription for $39.00, but if you’re willing to dig around a bit you can usually find subscriptions for a lot cheaper.
There’s clearly a problem, and both Apple and News Corps are apparently teaming up to solve the issue for us, almost a year after Apple announced that the iPad was going to redefine the print world.
John Gruber is reporting that “Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs are both preparing to unveil a new digital “newspaper” called the Daily at the end of this month.” The Daily application would not only solve the recurring subscription-based problems with App Store magazines, but it would also do away entirely with “print editions” and “web editions” of the publication, thereby making the app only available for the iPad (currently).
This application would be classified as “tablet newspaper” and it’s expected to cost about $0.99 cents per week, putting it in line with the current price of a Conde Naste publication, but also being drastically cheaper than traditional print newspapers. Local news print subscriptions (Ottawa Citizen) costs about $26.69 per month in Canada.
It is also being reported that on the 9th of December, Apple and News Corps. will take the stage together at a “surprise” event in Cupertino. Both companies will announce the new application, along with explanations about how the system works, and what APIs will be released to developers.
What do you think: too little too late, or a game changer?
Article Via Daring Fireball
