The first Murdoch UK titles to raise pay walls are The Times and The Sunday Times. Starting June 2010, the sites will charge for content online, £1 for a day’s access and £2 for a week’s subscription, for both editions of the papers.

In perspective, The Times reportedly loses around £240,000 per day. A Guardian report from March 2010 estimates that the pay walls for The Times and The Sunday Times would bring around £1.83 million over a month if only 5% of the users pay for the daily fees, or £3.66 million per month at a 10% pay wall conversion rate. If the weekly £2 pass is chosen, the revenues for the paper would be considerably lower.

These estimates were based on the February 2010 ABCe figures, which indicate the two sites had a total of 1.22 million visitors per day. The Time’s monthly visitors numbers fell to 20.42 million from 21.4 million in January 2010.

A Pew study found that out of those who have a favourite news website (35% of the total surveyed), only 19% would be willing to pay for news online. For The Times’ impending pay wall, these figures would equate to  around 133,000 visitors paying for news, either £1 per day or £2 per week. The Times could make somewhere between £133,000 per day or £266,000 per week, from subscriptions only.

The maximum figures for a week would be only able to cover the losses The Times makes per day.

The advertising revenue was not included in this calculation. This was calculated with the ABCe figures for the month. If calculated with daily average visitors figures, it would equate to only around £81,130 earned per day through pay walls alone.

The NPA said the apps would “undermine commercial organisations’ ability to establish economic models on smartphones.” Outrageously, the BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC, delayed the aforementioned iPhone apps because of the NPA complaint.

The Newspaper Publishers’ Association represents national and regional newspapers, magazines and business-to-business media, books and journals and data publishers, according to its website.

The NPA claims on the same site that its members, “publishers in particular, have grasped opportunities offered by the new technologies and are leading long-term investors in digital content and on-line services.” But that’s unless the BBC wants to offer free iPhone apps.

Building an iPhone app for a news site is ridiculously inexpensive and easy, especially for the smaller local titles which could be “threatened” by a BBC News iPhone app.

AppMakr is such an example: you can make a nice iPhone app for your newspaper within minutes (using RSS feeds, learn more about the process) and it starts from only $299. You can even insert your own ads within the content and set the price for the app. iSites is another great similar service.

Point in case — Newsweek and the Atlantic Wire, among many others, have created their iPhone apps this way. There’s nothing stopping NPA members to do the same, hence establishing themselves on smartphones, free of charge or paid for, with or without advertising. What more can you ask for?

The Guardian has its own great best-selling iPhone app (which I reviewed here). The Telegraph, Independent and Manchester Evening News have their apps as well, though arguably not as good as Guardian’s. None of them are created using the solutions I suggested above, but some could do with a makeover.

The BBC News iPad app is available in the US though, where the corporation operates commercially, and paidContent says it’s already a big hit. Note that outside the UK, the BBC is not covered by the Trust review. The BBC iPhone apps will reportedly make it in the US as well, while the UK waits for its newspapers to get their act together.

Adults under the age of 35 have significantly increased their consumption of news in the past three years — and they profess a growing interest in getting news from print newspapers.

Some Hope for Newspapers in Greater News Consumption by Young
— Mark Fitzgerald, Editor&Pulbisher

I’m increasingly intrigued by surveys which go unscrutinised, such as the latest from McKinsey & Co. The survey says “average daily news consumption in the UK increased to 72 minutes from 60 minutes three years ago,” and younger news consumers “overwhelmingly prefer to get their news from television and the Internet.”

Great, this actually fits with the trend of declining (print) newspaper sales and a massive increase in online reading. But no, the story goes on to say: “interest in getting news from newspapers has grown, the survey found. Among people aged 16 to 24, interest in newspaper news grew to 64% from 53% in a 2006 survey. In the 25-34 cohort, interest grew to 61% from 51%.”

So if young people “overwhelmingly” prefer to get their news from the Internet, how come “interest” in newspapers has grown? Apparently, it’s because “newspapers remain the most trusted medium, with 66% of respondents describing the paper as informative and confidence inspiring,” the report quoting the survey says.

I find it hard to believe that 16-24s think that if you have the spare cash to print on dead trees, the news source is more trustworthy than an online one. Also, “interest in newspaper news” does not equate to actually buying the newspaper. Case in point — an overwhelming majority of Journalism students at the University of Lincoln (where I study) do not buy any newspapers, despite heavy discounts available on campus.

Actually, I think I can can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I have seen a student on campus carrying a newspaper in their hand (except the free campus publications) in the last three years. Why, because they can get the same content for free online, while they check their Facebook, Twitter, etc., among other possible reasons.

An interesting tidbit from the survey tackles pay walls: “even in a hypothetical scenario where online-only versions of existing newspapers and magazines cost 75% less than the print versions, only 14% of news consumers said they would pay for the online content.”

So, despite interest in newspapers, young people still prefer online and don’t want pay walls. I’m not sure where the “hope” for newspaper publishers should be found in this story.

]]> http://bdionescu.com/2010/04/young-people-still-care-about-print-survey-says-really/feed/ 1 http://bdionescu.com/2010/04/ipad-sales-numbers-predictions-and-reality/ http://bdionescu.com/2010/04/ipad-sales-numbers-predictions-and-reality/#comments Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:25:47 +0000 Daniel Ionescu http://bdionescu.com/?p=960 Sunday, April 4th — Brian Caulfield, Forbes

Apple sold between 600,000 and 700,000 iPads during the tablet computer’s first day of sales Saturday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to investors Saturday. That’s up from the range of between 200,000 to 300,000 units Munster had predicted earlier. Munster cited “longer than expected lines” and good iPad availability.

Monday, April 5th — David Sarno, LA Times

After months of marketing hype that had fans grabbing their wallets this weekend, Apple announced Monday that it sold more than 300,000 of its new tablet computers Saturday — a one-day total that topped the 2007 debut for the original iPhone.

My PCWorld colleague JR Raphael says it like it is:

Now, to be fair, Mr. Munster is the same fella who completely screwed the pooch when it comes to iPad sales estimates. Munster upped his prediction on Saturday night, saying he expected Apple to sell 600,000 to 700,000 of the suckers. He’d originally guessed 200,000 to 300,000. The M-man blamed an overestimate of online presales for his slip-up.

— Note that the initial prediction was pretty much spot on, though JR’s analysis is a must-read. Also, I’m not particularly convinced that Apple would have sold another 300,000+ on the second day (Easter Sunday), but I’m sure the first-day sales numbers would have definitely topped 0.5 million if the iPad was launched world-wide simultaneously.

I have been covering quite a lot lately Apple’s long-expected tablet, the iPad, so I’ve selected a few highlights of my reports from PCWorld below:

iPad Expected to Beat iPhone’s First 3-Month Sales

Apple could sell more iPads in the first three months of availability than it sold original iPhones in the same period, according to sources quoted by the Wall Street Journal. “Hundreds of thousands” of units have already been pre-ordered, says the report, with strong demand expected at launch.

iPad Buyer be Aware: $99 Replacement if Battery Dies

Just like most Apple products, the iPad will have an enclosed battery, but Apple says it will replace it with an as-new iPad for $99 when the charge won’t last as long — if the device has no other damage.

Why the iPad Will be the E-books Battle Arena

Barnes & Noble says it will launch an iPad version of its eReader app, in anticipation of the release of Apple’s device on April 3. The app will compete with Apple’s own iBook store for e-books, and Amazon could jump on board any time now.

Publishers Ready for iPad, iPad Not Ready for Flash

HP Flaunts Flash and AIR on Slate Tablet

Will We Ever See Flash On the iPad? Probably Not

I don’t believe magazines/periodicals belong in the new iBook store for the iPad. This store uses the ePub format, which is what the Kindle uses as well, yet periodicals subscriptions on the Amazon reader haven’t really kicked off mainly because of the lack of graphics.

Also, ePub is not easy to update, unlike a website. If news breaks, how will the book-like format be updated? Comments, ratings, etc aren’t available either. All-in-all, not a very convenient solution, and not far from the static print versions.

Now, if you make an app, like the NYT (which is basically a ported version of the Times Reader), and offer it for download, you can update the stories any time, get push notifications, richer multimedia, etc. We also have to keep in mind the vast majority of magazines have websites which are updated daily, despite monthly/weekly print editions.

The only problem (for publishers) is monetizing these apps. The NYT app is free on the iPhone (I understand it will sync with the iPad one) and serves ads. Others, like the Guardian, are charging for it, but don’t serve ads.

But the resemblance between the NYT iPad app and the Times Reader desktop software leads me into thinking that NYT will try to charge for access to sections of the iPad app, like it does in Times Reader (front page stories are free). They already said they are planning another walled garden.

Nevertheless, I believe the App Store, paired with the iPad, offers more possibilities to periodicals publishers than the iBook store does.

Note — this comment is republished and adapted from my response to Will the iPad Save Media? Not Just Yet

iPhone 4G Rumors Heat Up
It’s been less than a year since the iPhone 3GS launched, and the rumor mill is already churning out speculation about an upcoming iPhone 4G, expected as early as May.

Google Nexus One’s First Week of Sales Were Weak
Report: Poor First Week Sales for Google Nexus OneBig hype didn’t equal big sales for Google’s Nexus One. According to reports only 20,000 Google Nexus One phones were sold in its first week of sales, according to sales estimates from market research firm Flurry. In comparison to its Android sibling the numbers are 12 times lower than for the Motorola Droid and 80 times lower than for the iPhone 3GS.

Netflix Streaming Coming to the Wii
Nintendo Wii users will be able to stream Netflix movies and TV episodes on their consoles, Netflix announced on Wednesday. The feature will be enabled this spring, at no additional charge for Netflix subscribers.

Windows Mobile 7 Delayed Until 2011?
Google’s Android mobile operating system is stealing the spotlight from Windows Mobile 7, so much so that reports say Microsoft’s latest OS is delayed (again) due to Google’s success.

Google Nexus One Loses to iPhone In Touchscreen Accuracy Tests
The Google Nexus One, Motorola Droid, and the iPhone have been put to the test to find out which smartphone has a better touchscreen. But despite overall more capable hardware, the iPhone still has a better display, it has been revealed in a recent test.

Google Nexus Two Phone to Focus on Business
The Nexus One smartphone might be a delight for consumers, but Google plans to approach the business-minded customers as well in a future iteration of the product, says Google’s Andy Rubin, quoted by Reuters.

The new Pre Plus (left) and Pixi Plus (right) from Palm.

Palm On the Right Path With Pre Plus, Pixi Plus
Competition in the smartphone market continues to heat up, with Google’s Nexus One ready to take on Apple’s iPhone. But Palm is not sitting idly by. At the Consumer Electronics Show this week, Palm announced upgraded versions of its Pre and Pixi smartphones, and announced that its devices would be coming to more carriers.

Apple Puts Lala Music Service to Work
Apple has put to use its acquisition of the Lala service from late last year, now allowing 30-second song previews in the Web-based version of the iTunes Charts. The quietly-launched feature completes the experience of the iTunes Web preview, initially launched in November 2009.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introducing the HP tablet with Windows 7.

Why the Microsoft-HP Tablet Is a Big Disappointment
Apple must be patting themselves on the back, as the Hewlett-Packard (HP) tablet unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday night failed to wow those expecting a true competitor to the mythical Apple tablet.

Microsoft Tablet to Beat Apple to the Punch?
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is ready to introduce on Wednesday night a slate form-factor computer to rival the yet-unannounced Apple Tablet, according to reports. It’s not the first time Microsoft has delved into tablets, but the Redmond company hopes it will be luckier the second time running.

Why the Nexus One Makes Other Android Phones Obsolete
The Google Nexus One, unveiled on Tuesday, has all the bells and whistles to challenge Apple’s ever-popular iPhone — thanks in large part to the slick new version of the Android OS that it runs. But if you use an earlier Google Android phone, don’t hold your breath waiting for the latest version of Android to make its way to your handset. It will likely be a while before you get to taste the entire Nexus bonanza.

An Affordable $199 Tablet for Everyone — And It’s Not From Apple
Just as the rumors of a pricey Apple tablet computer have reached a high-water mark, Freescale Semiconductor on Monday showcased reference designs of an affordable, lightweight tablet computer, set to hit the market later this year.

• Embrace broadcast
• Twitter
• Get some new columnists
• Develop an “app”
• Stop laying off journalists

For more details on each step, see ‘Five things newspapers should be doing‘.

• Why the Nexus One Makes Other Android Phones Obsolete
• Why the Microsoft-HP Tablet Is a Big Disappointment

Some of the comments have been less than congratulatory at my address, but I’m not complaining. I’m just wondering why some have to disagree in a less polite way. Calling me “biased”, “idiot” or “fanboy” is not going to change my opinion on the matter, especially as the arguments are on my side.

However, the best one I’ve read so far was claiming that I am on Apple’s PR payroll. Well, as good as that might sound, I’m afraid it’s not the case. I’m just giving Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

I had a quick wander through the app, and I was quite impressed: it single-handedly puts to shame the counterparts from the Independent or Telegraph — though credit goes to the latter two for putting their apps out there months before the Guardian.

The Guardian app keeps the same graphic identity with the website, including colour codes and I like how you can customise the front page (similar to Thomson Reuters’ News Pro app). You can choose which categories and how many items from each category appear on the home tab, and the image gallery section is quite sleek. You can also easily browse through articles by the same author and through tags (keywords) at the end of articles.

There are a few issues with the Guardian iPhone app though. I find the trending tab on the home page a bit confusing, and the podcast integration is nice, but when you actually listen to the file, there is no cover art. The most notable downside is the lack of landscape reading mode (they could learn a lesson from the Financial Times’ app here). Also, the only way I got around for updating the content was to close and reopen the app .

Overall though, I’m impressed with the Guardian iPhone app, especially as this the the first version. The lack of advertising is welcome, but you pay a premium for that. Perhaps there should be a free, ad-supported version alongside. Landscape reading should be a must for the next update.

If you’re not willing to pay £2.39 for the Guardian iPhone app, you can still read all the content for free from Safari.

– Later edit: I used the app a bit more and I also noticed the lack of video content and comment facilities. And here’s a little video from the Guardian introducing their app (the voice over in the video sounds like the Guardian’s Head of Audio, Matt Wells).

“Most managers in the [newspaper] industry have reacted to the collapse of their business model with a spiral of budget cuts, bureau closings, buyouts, layoffs, and reductions in page size and column inches. Since 1990, a quarter of all American newspaper jobs have disappeared.

The columnist Molly Ivins complained, shortly before her death, that the newspaper companies’ solution to their problem was to make “our product smaller and less helpful and less interesting.” That may help explain why the dwindling number of Americans who buy and read a daily paper are spending less time with it; the average is down to less than fifteen hours a month.

Only nineteen per cent of Americans between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four claim even to look at a daily newspaper. The average age of the American newspaper reader is fifty-five and rising.”

Out of print — Eric Alterman | The New Yorker

Later edit – another quote from the same article from Arianna Huffington:

“Traditional media just need to realize that the online world isn’t the enemy. In fact, it’s the thing that will save them, if they fully embrace it.”

Fortunately, it’s back up now, so I will update with my latest stuff in due course.

“What journalism and the public most need right now is serious, continuing coverage of matters of public importance: city halls, school systems, statehouses. Journalism schools are not fully equipped to provide that now, but the logistical and financial difficulty of equipping them to do so would be far less than the difficulty of creating and sustaining new news organizations built from scratch. Like teaching hospitals, journalism schools can provide essential services to their communities while they are educating their students.“

The Chronicle of Higher Education | Nicholas Lemann – Journalism Schools Can Push Coverage Beyond Breaking News

YouTube Goes High Definition with 1080p Videos
YouTube says it will start supporting 1080p high-definition video in full resolution starting next week. The Google-owned video-sharing site will add support for viewing videos in 720p or 1080p resolutions, depending on the resolution of the original source.

Microsoft Bans Up to One Million Users From Xbox Live
Microsoft has banned as many as one million users who hacked their Xbox 360 consoles to play pirated games from the company’s Xbox Live service in a bid to counter piracy. The move triggered an avalanche of cheap “chipped” Xbox 360 consoles for sale on Craigslist and a public outcry from users is expected.

Samsung Intros Bada Mobile OS: Do We Need It?
Samsung today introduced Bada, which the company calls a mobile platform for a new breed of its smartphones. But is there really a need for yet another mobile OS, next to the likes of Apple, Microsoft, or Google?

Not anymore: a Hackintosh Dell Mini from Gizmodo.

Apple’s Snow Leopard Update Zaps Bugs, Kills Hackintosh Netbooks
On Monday Apple released an update to its Snow Leopard operating system (10.6.2 ) that fixes flaws, including one that wipes out a users’ personal data. But along with fixes, Apple’s update also kills support for Intel Atom processors, in a bid to stop users from hacking their netbooks and creating “hackintosh” systems.

iPhone ‘Rickroll’ Worm Is No Threat To Most Users
The first worm to infect the iPhone will not affect most users of Apple’s smartphone, despite worrying reports. The ikee worm only affects jailbroken iPhones, representing a minority percentage of iPhones on the market.

iPhone as an eBook Reader Threatens Kindle, Says Report
Apple’s iPhone is quickly becoming the ebook reader of choice for many, and could steal market share from Amazon’s Kindle, according to a report from market research firm Flurry.

Best Buy, CinemaNow Partner on Movie Download Service
Best Buy will partner with Sonic Solutions’ Roxio CinemaNow to offer a movie download service that will pipe movies to a range of electronic gear from televisions, DVD players, computers and phones sold at the retail giant’s stores. The move is seen as a sign of the times for the leading retail seller of DVD movies, Best Buy, who is seeing its retail sales of DVD discs shrink as more people opt to rent movies via digital distribution.

Beatles Due Soon on USB — But Not From Apple
EMI will release next month a collection of remastered Beatles albums on a special edition USB drive, to the joy of fans and geeks alike. The apple-shaped 16GB USB drive will be loaded with the remastered audio tracks from the Beatles’ 14 albums, and will set you back a cool $330 (£200).

Motorola Droid Steals BlackBerry’s Limelight
Motorola’s upcoming Droid smartphone is grabbing plenty of attention — so much attention, in fact, that news of two new BlackBerry devices is getting lost in the shuffle. In recent weeks, Research In Motion announced two new smartphones, the revamped BlackBerry Storm 2, and the Bold 9700. Both are impressive phones in their own right, but neither is garnering the buzz that surrounds the Motorola Droid.

A $99 8GB iPhone 3GS to Kill the Motorola Droid?
AT&T and Apple are preparing a cheaper iPhone 3GS just in time for the holidays to distract from the popularity of the Motorola Droid, according to sources quoted by a BoyGenius report. A cheaper version of the iPhone 3GS would come with only 8GB of storage and $100 off the original price tag, replacing the current $99 8GB iPhone 3G.

In an article on their website on Wednesday, November 4 2009, sensationally headlined ‘City’s binge drinking crisis‘, there are only (exactly) 50 words of text, which are trying to sell me the printed version of the paper for Thursday, November 5. Here they are:

“New alcohol profiles for England have revealed Lincoln has the second worst rate for binge drinking in the East Midlands.

The statistics reveal that the city came second out of 40 local authorities in the region.

It also came fourth for alcohol related crimes and fifth alcohol related sexual offences.”

The article continues with one last paragraph:

“See Thursday’s Echo for more on the statistics, plus reaction from alcohol prevention groups and city MP Gillian Merron.”

So they are basically telling me that they sourced news yesterday (or possibly today), but they are only going to tell me more about it tomorrow. Well, here’s why I won’t buy your newspaper tomorrow:

1. I use Google search
I will type in “alcohol profiles for England” and (2.) click on the first result (see image below)

3. On that website I am going to look after some press release or spreadsheet with the numbers and I going to look for myself (approximately 45 seconds). You can download the spreadsheets with the data I believe they used, which looks like it was last updated on October 22, almost two weeks before the Echo report was written (corrections for this fact welcomed).

4. So I already learnt about the “more statistics” pitched to me in the article, and I can pretty much guess what alcohol prevention groups will say about binge drinking and the local MP will probably say that she’s working on it.

My point: If I can find and pretty much guess the news that you are pitching to me for tomorrow in about 5 minutes, what makes you think I will buy your paper the next day?

–Later edit: One commentator (Martin, Lincoln) on the article rightly points out: “Let’s hope the source of the figures is revealed, so that we can check them out for ourselves minus the sensationalist, scaremongering tripe that they’ll inevitably served up with…”

Is Motorola back in the game? Looking at the upcoming Droid smartphone (above), one might say it is. I’m just not convinced whether it is really the Droid creating all the hype or the 2.0 version of the Google Android mobile operating system powering it. Best wishes go to Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry Storm 2 launch got overshadowed this week by the Droid — here are my PC World posts for this week.

Palm Lost the iTunes Sync Battle (Again)
The release of the iTunes 9.0.2 update on Thursday yet again disables Palm’s workaround to sync with Apple’s popular jukebox software. Perhaps it’s high time Palm moved on and created its own software.

Twitter Warns of New Phishing Scam
Twitter is warning users of a new phishing scam spreading through direct messages on the network, which redirect users to a fake log-in page to steal their passwords.

Apple Set to Pass 100K Available iPhone Apps Milestone
Apple has approved more than 100,000 applications in its App Store, according to latest figures from App Shopper, an industry tracking firm. That number of approved apps dwarfs the number of apps offered by mobile app store competitors Android Marketplace, Windows Mobile Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, and Nokia’s Ovi Store. Apple’s next closest competitor, Google’s Android Marketplace, offers a relative pittance of 10,000 mobile apps. BlackBerry App World hosts 3040 apps.

Verizon Unveils Motorola’s Droid, Sets High Hopes For Android
Verizon will start selling the Motorola Droid, its first Google Android handset, on November 6, the carrier announced on Wednesday. The Motorola Droid will cost $200 with a two-year contract with Verizon, after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Motorola Droid sets high hopes for the future of the Google Android OS, and features powerful hardware: 3.7-inch high-resolution capacitive touchscreen display, 5-megapixel camera, and WiFi and Bluetooth, among other features.

BlackBerry Storm 2 Arrives
Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Storm 2, the long-anticipated follow-up to the original BlackBerry Storm, will arrive on Verizon’s network tomorrow. The Storm 2 will go on sale on Wednesday, October 28 for $280 when you sign a two-year service contract with Verizon Wireless. Verizon is offering a $100 mail-in rebate, which knocks the price down to $180, but that rebate comes in the form of a Visa debit card, not an actual check.

Netflix Movie Streaming Comes To PlayStation 3
Starting November, you will be able to stream Netflix movies and TV shows on to your PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console. The deal, announced on Monday, will put Sony’s console in line with Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which had this functionality for over a year now.

The Evolution of the MP3 Player
My special slideshow this week, featuring the new PCW slides layout, which is pretty cool. Portable digital music players have evolved through the years, from hulking $800 devices to tiny $60 iPod Shuffles. Here’s a look at how MP3 players have changed over the past decade.

Shot from Apple's new 'PC News' ad, mocking the switch to Windows 7.

Apple slams Windows 7 in ads
Not only Microsoft is celebrating the launch of Windows 7 with some new ads, but Apple is also taking a stab at the introduction of the new OS, in its usual deprecating manner.

Windows 7: what the reviews say
Microsoft unleashed Windows 7 to the masses on Thursday, and momentum for the new operating system has even put it ahead of Harry Potter pre-orders on Amazon UK this week, set to break retail records.

Google to launch ‘Google Audio’ music service and phone
Is Google gunning to become the next Apple? Google is reportedly set to unveil its own music service and is also working with a smartphone manufacturer on an own-brand Android phone.

Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader pricing and specs leaked
The dual screen (e-ink + capacitive touchscreen) reader from Barnes and Noble that runs on Android and can lend books for up to two weeks.

Can Verizon’s Motorola ‘Droid’ live up to the hype?
Verizon cranked up its hype machine, preparing the launch of the Droid, Motorola’s Android-powered competitor to the iPhone. But will it be good enough to trump the iPhone?

Pretty comprehensive reviews from Harry McCracken (PC World), David Pogue (NYT) and Walt Mossberg (WSJ).

All three are mainly Mac users, like myself. Bottom line: once you go Mac, you never go back (no pun intended).