Why should I keep buying the cow when they give me the milk for free?

I am the owner of a new ipad. My first purchase was the monthly subscription to the NY Times. I have a Kindle also and would occasionally buy the Times on a daily basis, especially the Sunday version. But the ipad version of the NYT is great and $20.00 a month is a good price.

I get home delivery of the Washington Post and have had it for my entire adult life. When I was living with my parents we always had newspapers delivered, Star Ledger and NY Times. My father worked in NYC for years and would come home with the evening edition of the NY Post. In college I even subscribed to the WSJ, very cheap for students, and I would walk to the 7-11 from my dorm to buy the Washington Star in the afternoon.

The ipad passed the bathroom test, I can read it there.

The Washington Post app for the ipad is free as is the content.

I feel guilty as hell, but I'm about to cancel the Post subscription because I get it everyday for free.

Is there any reason to keep a paper subscription? If the Post would charge for content, I would probably pay a reasonable price.

Alleviate my conscience

 

If it had onions and peppers I'd feel bad in about an hour, but I agree with your overall point.

 

... But Moddy's right: They're doing nothing to make you pay. That's their fault. Don't feel bad at all.

 

Yes, I don't understand why publications wouldn't charge for online apps such as that (or go paywall). Our company is supposed to be making that move soon...not sure why it's taking so long -- a no-brainer to me.

I have a Nook, and pay for USA Today app, my SI and Time magazine come over free on Nook because I remain a print subscriber to those.

 

I only subscribe to the local paper (that I do not respect much, for its biases) because the W, Th, F and Sun subscription costs just $1.25 and I figure it costs them more than that to print and distribute to my driveway. Glad to help them run in the red.

Guess I'm not the right one to ask about feeling bad that a badly run industry might be giving away the store.

 

It's not that I won't buy books and clothes online, I sometimes do, but I prefer to visit a brick-and-mortar store even if I pay more. There is an experience attached to the purchase. And I like the tactile experience of newspapers, magazines and books. Some of the books, I can tell you a story about the shop where I bought it and where my head was at 20 years ago when I brought it home. Can't really do that with the books I bought online. Not everything is about money. A small thing, too, but the stuff I read online melds into one experience and I can't always tell you if I read the story in the Chicago Tribune or Dallas Morning News. If I read it on hard copy, I never forget where I saw it.

 

What he said - - times ten!

 

You probably don't check your phone during dinner, either.

 

I tried to change my subscription from daily and Sunday to just Sunday, going from $6.25 a week to $1.85 for just Sunday. To keep me they are giving me 7 days a week for $1.50 a week.