Re: The West Australian electronic edition
On 02/11/2004, at 5:01 PM, James Devenish wrote: In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] on Tue, Nov 02, 2004 at 04:50:24PM +0800, Martin Hill wrote: Am I alone in thinking publishers should charge less not more than their printed versions for electronic versions of their publications considering the savings on printing and distribution? I don't know about periodical news publications in the US, but international scientific journals often charge almost as much for the online versions as for the print versions (and combined print + online subscriptions are 1.7 to 2 times the cost of a single-medium subscription). The reason being that the Journals (and Papers) see it as a way to increase income, without the extra overheads. I heard the guy from the West on the radio trying to explain the high price. They were using a very traditional business model. They worked out the cost of the expensive e-publishing system they purchased, estimated the number of current users who might use the service and divided. What they didn't consider was an alternative business model to serve people like us, who might want online access to certain parts of the paper at certain times. This market is potentially much bigger, if the price is right, but the West was too shortsighted to see this. I predict that another business will fill the gap, and the West's print circulation will continue to fall. My 2c. Cheers Rob -- --- Dr Rob Phillips, Senior Lecturer,[EMAIL PROTECTED] Room 4.38 Teaching and Learning Centre, Library North Wing Murdoch University, South St, Murdoch, 6150, Perth, Australia Phone: +61 8 9360 6054 Mobile: 0416 065 054 Executive Member, Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-learning (ACODE) Chair, 2004 ASCILITE Conference, http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/ ---
The West Australian electronic edition
Well, I was pleased to discover that the electronic edition of the West Australian newspaper seems to mostly work fine on the Mac despite a warning that Your browser environment is not fully supported. http://enewspaper.thewest.com.au/daily/client.asp?skin=demo Just the sort of thing I thought I might like to view wirelessly on my Powerbook via our airport network at home. (somewhat off-topic vent follows!) :-) However I couldn't believe it when I discovered that it costs 3-4 times the price of the print version. ie. $4 to purchase a single electronic edition or $950 to subscribe for a year. (and that's without the West Magazine etc) Am I alone in thinking publishers should charge less not more than their printed versions for electronic versions of their publications considering the savings on printing and distribution? Even the New York Times charges almost half the price of the West at US$384 annually (or US$174 for students or educators) for a fully downloadable version (60MBs per paper, 7 issues a week) which I still think is a bit on the expensive side of things, but at least is a bit more reasonable. For comparison Time Magazine charges US$49 for a year's subscription to their electronic version compared to US$221.20 per year for their printed versions (56 editions). I emailed them and the subscriptions manager replied saying: Your comments regarding the price of the electronic edition of The West Australian are noted, but the aim of the electronic edition is not to replace the printed version of the paper. The aim is to provide a valid alternative for those who are beyond the reach of the distribution network in place for the printed newspaper. This includes subscribers in the eastern States and overseas, where a single edition can cost upwards of $20. In the local market the electronic edition will not appear attractive against the printed edition, but in these distant markets we hope that subscribers will see it as a very viable option. I hope that this helps to explain the pricing of the electronic edition. So they're going for a tiny market at premium prices rather than exploiting the mass market at more reasonable rates. *sigh* I guess I'll just go back to reading the multiplicity of free news sources out on the internet and forget about getting a bit more local news and features. (editorial biases not withstanding!) -Mart -- Martin Hill mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] homepages: http://mart.ozmac.com Mb: 0417-967-969 hm: (08)9314-5242
Re: The West Australian electronic edition
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] on Tue, Nov 02, 2004 at 04:50:24PM +0800, Martin Hill wrote: Am I alone in thinking publishers should charge less not more than their printed versions for electronic versions of their publications considering the savings on printing and distribution? I don't know about periodical news publications in the US, but international scientific journals often charge almost as much for the online versions as for the print versions (and combined print + online subscriptions are 1.7 to 2 times the cost of a single-medium subscription).
Re: The West Australian electronic edition
On 02/11/2004, at 5:01 PM, James Devenish wrote: In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] on Tue, Nov 02, 2004 at 04:50:24PM +0800, Martin Hill wrote: Am I alone in thinking publishers should charge less not more than their printed versions for electronic versions of their publications considering the savings on printing and distribution? I don't know about periodical news publications in the US, but international scientific journals often charge almost as much for the online versions as for the print versions (and combined print + online subscriptions are 1.7 to 2 times the cost of a single-medium subscription). The reason being that the Journals (and Papers) see it as a way to increase income, without the extra overheads. - Matt
