Pay $165 for New York Times Reader

When I wrote about the New York Times Reader, about a year ago, it was an interesting concept. It is a news reader based on WPF, it looks really good but it also has it shares of problems. One being that it only displays news from the New York Times (I don't want to start a new program for each type of news I want to read).

Back then it was also free, but now it seems that New York Times has become greedy. I just received the following message telling me that I have to pay $165 to continue using it.

This note is to let you know that the beta period will be ending in two weeks. Times Reader will launch as a subscription service on March 27. It will cost $14.95 a month or $165 a year and will include access to TimesSelect and Premium Crosswords. Times Reader will be free to home delivery subscribers, including 7-day, weekend, Sunday only, weekday only, Book Review only, Large Type Weekly subscribers, and those who receive the special education rate.

ohh... and did I mention that it has advertisements everywhere?

I know that news companies are struggling to earn money in this internet era, but I do not think this is the solution.

A pioneer in smart text layout

New York Times Reader was the first real application to showcase WPF's ability to create smart layout. Something we could learn a lot about when building things on the web. It is not perfect, but it is much better than what most web developers do when they make "fluid" layouts.

This is the front of the Fashion & Style sections at different sizes:

And this is what an article looks like:

Comments

Daniel Aleksandersen - Mar. 17, 2007

Here is a good question for you (from a web design perspective): Do you recommend using multiple text columns on a regular webpage, and how to do it?

Thomas Baekdal - Mar. 17, 2007

The problem with columns is handling scrolling. Using columns does make sense if all the text is visible on the screen (it is a better use of the screen space). But, if it doesn't fit, then it quickly fall apart.

Scrollbars and columns is generally a disaster. Paging is a better solution, but it is still not a usable solution. Even printed magazines and newspapers often keep articles on a single page for better presentation and redability.

Jonas - Mar. 18, 2007

A list apart has a great article about how to create flexible layouts.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/switchymclayout

Degenerate - Mar. 19, 2007

How nice of the NYT to make you subscribe and still force feed you adverts.

I would have thought at the very least if they were going to make it subscription based they could scrap the adverts on the paid version. That way they could offer the free version, just subsidised via advertising. It's not a new concept and i'm surprised that they would rip you off like that.

Torvald - Mar. 30, 2007

Why do you expect the content to be free? You pay a dollar for the paper and it has advertisments in it. You pay for access to cableTV, it is also flooded with advertisments?

Thomas Baekdal - Apr. 2, 2007

I actually do not expect to be free as such. I just something against releasing it for free at first, then to charge for it later. That is deceptive marketing tactics.

Pay $165 for New York Times Reader

A pioneer in smart text layout

Other news WPF readers:

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