It wasn't too long ago that people said they didn't want to read books digitally, but the Kindle seems to be doing fine.
The newspaper business model is broken. At the rate of decline we will be left with at most a half dozen newspapers in this country. There are many places I can get national news, but only one or two places that I can get local news.
If you eliminate the cost of printing and distribution you can charge less enabling more subscribers and make a profit all without any advertising. Add in a small amount of ads and you can charge less enabling even more subscribers.
Even more important those ads can be targeted. Why should an East side business pay for distribution of their ad to an entire metro area?
But lots of good reporters cost money. Add in the cost of giving away digital devices and it's not a business that can be bootstrapped.
If printing and distribution were the only issue, we'd be awash in local news online whether ad-supported or behind paywalls. The town where I live has effectively zero local news available online unless there's something significant enough to (rarely) hit a local news aggregator in the state. Having a dedicated eink reader isn't going to change that.
My small town's local newspaper died because they were trying to pay college-educated people (with student loan debt) minimum wage. Nope. Not gonna fly even in a small town with low cost of living. Also, they had horrific customer service for many years.
The newspaper business model is broken. At the rate of decline we will be left with at most a half dozen newspapers in this country. There are many places I can get national news, but only one or two places that I can get local news.
If you eliminate the cost of printing and distribution you can charge less enabling more subscribers and make a profit all without any advertising. Add in a small amount of ads and you can charge less enabling even more subscribers.
Even more important those ads can be targeted. Why should an East side business pay for distribution of their ad to an entire metro area?
But lots of good reporters cost money. Add in the cost of giving away digital devices and it's not a business that can be bootstrapped.