New York Times has internal war over iPad edition prices

Even at $9.99/month the iPad edition of the New York Times isn’t necessarily going to clean up -mostly because the free website will have almost all of the same content and will still look great on the iPad.  But imagine trying to sell people on the idea of a $30/month version of the Times – the same cost as the paper edition.

According to Gawker, that is a very real possibility.  If the paper group at the Times gets their way, you’ll have to pay around $1/day to access the Times on the iPad.  It isn’t an insane price but it is a lot when compared to online editions of the Wall St. Journal for instance.  The rationale for the paper people is that the iPad edition will be cannibalizing sales of the print edition — so the cost should be a break even. 

But, it will also be killing printing costs and delivery costs.  And it is a joke to think it will do well at $30/month.

But at $10 or under and a product that gets content better/quicker than the free web version, I could see a strong following and am personally considering making the plunge when it becomes available. 

Let’s hope smarter heads at the Times prevail