Comments on: Hot New Local Media Trend: Stories About How Mayyybe Philly.com Might Start Charging For Content

By: Allan Smithee

Allan Smithee — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:46:34 +0000

re: Then again, how would that be different than a flat fee, anyway, right?

I generally purchase Inky/Inky Jr. daily so I might be tempted to purchase a home delivery subscription to have unlimited access to Philly.com. It would actually save me money.

I definitely would not pay a flat fee just for access to the website… I don’t consider “Attytood” a must online read.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:36:31 +0000

I like the idea of posting excerpts on their site and paying for the rest, but “home delivery”? I doubt a lot of people would be willing to do that. Then again, how would that be different than a flat fee, anyway, right?

Cool concept, though!

By: Allan Smithee

Allan Smithee — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:02:07 +0000

If Philly.com wants to make money from it’s content, they should do what The New Yorker does, albeit the money made is the “old fashioned way.”

Just post excerpts of the majority of stories and only persons that have a home delivery subscription can access all content in an unlimited way.

Yes, I know, Inky/Inky Jr. (aka Daily News) are not the New Yorker but that’s a way that seems sorta “fair and honest” if you believe free content is theft.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:35:36 +0000

Didn’t you reference Philly.com recently for the story about The Bulletin? Doesn’t that break the boycott you have?

At any rate, charging for content is fine with me. If its gotten to the point where people are OK with paying for content again and its a viable model, then I think it would be a good way to find out just how viable it is down the line.

By: rewritefullwise

rewritefullwise — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:12:29 +0000

Also, pay-walls don’t work: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-read-the-wsj-for-free-online-2009-6

By: alexm

alexm — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:56:31 +0000

they can’t get RSS feeds right, how on earth are they going get a subscription service functioning? if they made the decision right now, it’d probably take a year for them to launch an unusable beta.