Edible Apple

The New York Times announced earlier today plans to move to a paywall model for its online content while also mentioning that it’s on-board with Apple’s controversial in-app store purchasing guidelines which require that the NYT give Apple a 30% cut of all revenue generated from subscribers that sign up via the iOS app.

As part of the Times’ business model, users can read up to 20 articles free of charge on the Times’ website, after which they’ll have to pay a fee to access the content. Price wise, non-subscribers will have to pay $15 every four weeks. for unfettered access to the NY Times online site which also nets them the iPhone app. That’s about $0.50 a day which is pretty reasonable. If users want access to the site with the iPad app, they’ll have to pay $20 a week while those looking for full access to NY Times content across all digital mediums (online+iPhone+iPad) will be charged $35/hr every four week period.

Importantly, and thankfully, users directed to the New York Times site from blogs, search results, and social media pages will be able to access articles free of charge even after they’ve reached their 20 article limit. Indeed, an old and well-known work-around to access pay-wall/subscriber only content from the WSJ and NYT is to google the article headline and hop to the full story directly from the search engine.

For non-home delivery subscribers, the Times said the basic package, which includes NYTimes.com access plus a smartphone (or iPhone) app, will start at $15 every four weeks (or $195 per year). A second package offering NYTimes.com access plus a tablet (or iPad) app will fetch $20, while an “All Digital Access” package offering full access to NYTimes.com and both of the aforementioned applications will sell for $35 every four weeks.

Paper subscribers to the Times will be able to receive free access to the New York Times online across all devices.