7 ms·

That extrapolates to $84,000,000 profit per year. As a comparison, NYT made $397,536,000 in net income in 2000. https://s1.q4cdn.com/156149269/files/doc_finan

by PakG1 8y ago

That extrapolates to $84,000,000 profit per year. As a comparison, NYT made $397,536,000 in net income in 2000. https://s1.q4cdn.com/156149269/files/doc_financials/annual/2000_Annual_Report.pdf https://s1.q4cdn.com/156149269/files/doc_financials/annual/2... $259,753,000 per year net income in 2005: https://s1.q4cdn.com/156149269/files/doc_financials/annual/2005NYTannual.pdf https://s1.q4cdn.com/156149269/files/doc_financials/annual/2... That comparison puts it into perspective for me. Until I looked up the comparison, I thought $84M a year profit sounded fantastic.

gonvaled 8y ago
What was the profit in 2000?
- hkmurakami 8y ago
  Net income = profit
ameister14 8y ago
Jesus, they went from close to 400 million on 3.6 billion revenue to 96 on 1.6 billion revenue, and it's a success? Really puts into perspective how tumultuous the last 15 years has been for even the biggest newspapers.
- matwood 8y ago
  > and it's a success? Compared to going out of business in a changing landscape, absolutely it's a success. The music industry went through something similar. The book industry (textbooks in particular) are about to go through it also.
  - lobotryas 8y ago
    What do you mean in regards to textbooks? Online rentals, digital textbooks, or something else? I ask only as someone (of many) who deeply resents textbook price gouging.
    - farboggle 8y ago
      I'm also curious about what might change. Textbooks are obviously open to the same digitization and free-access issues as other media, but their sales model fundamentally different because it's one giant principal-agent problem. In public schools, digitization won't touch textbook profits any time soon because they're bought in bulk, and because multi-year use keeps costs reasonable. Giving out digital copies isn't a major edge if you can get 5-10 years out of a book. As for college students, there's just very little incentive to care about costs. Example: for many of my classes, buying and reselling textbooks, renting them, and getting digital-only access mysteriously converged on the same price - just like you'd predict in a market with no real competition. So the only real question is whether sellers can control piracy or other covert cost reductions like buying international versions and older editions. So far, they seem to be doing pretty well at it. Altering problems in foreign and new additions doesn't stop everyone, but it deters many students. Mandatory online courseware with in-book CD keys is a masterstroke, since it not only kills piracy but forces students to buy $100 books they might have forgone altogether - no more using library copies if you're hard up for money! I've only seen two hints of change. One is outreach to agents (i.e. professors) on quality; there are now mix-and-match services that will sell combined chapters from a variety of books, which might someday drive more competition among writers and professor awareness of book choice. The second is the existence of student rebellion in specific majors (i.e. Computer Science) where students are very likely to have digital, pirated, or nonexistent textbooks, to the point where things like "open book exams" are considered outrageous.

by PakG1 8y ago

gonvaled 8y ago

What was the profit in 2000?

hkmurakami 8y ago
Net income = profit

ameister14 8y ago

Jesus, they went from close to 400 million on 3.6 billion revenue to 96 on 1.6 billion revenue, and it's a success? Really puts into perspective how tumultuous the last 15 years has been for even the biggest newspapers.

matwood 8y ago
> and it's a success? Compared to going out of business in a changing landscape, absolutely it's a success. The music industry went through something similar. The book industry (textbooks in particular) are about to go through it also.
- lobotryas 8y ago
  What do you mean in regards to textbooks? Online rentals, digital textbooks, or something else? I ask only as someone (of many) who deeply resents textbook price gouging.
  - farboggle 8y ago
    I'm also curious about what might change. Textbooks are obviously open to the same digitization and free-access issues as other media, but their sales model fundamentally different because it's one giant principal-agent problem. In public schools, digitization won't touch textbook profits any time soon because they're bought in bulk, and because multi-year use keeps costs reasonable. Giving out digital copies isn't a major edge if you can get 5-10 years out of a book. As for college students, there's just very little incentive to care about costs. Example: for many of my classes, buying and reselling textbooks, renting them, and getting digital-only access mysteriously converged on the same price - just like you'd predict in a market with no real competition. So the only real question is whether sellers can control piracy or other covert cost reductions like buying international versions and older editions. So far, they seem to be doing pretty well at it. Altering problems in foreign and new additions doesn't stop everyone, but it deters many students. Mandatory online courseware with in-book CD keys is a masterstroke, since it not only kills piracy but forces students to buy $100 books they might have forgone altogether - no more using library copies if you're hard up for money! I've only seen two hints of change. One is outreach to agents (i.e. professors) on quality; there are now mix-and-match services that will sell combined chapters from a variety of books, which might someday drive more competition among writers and professor awareness of book choice. The second is the existence of student rebellion in specific majors (i.e. Computer Science) where students are very likely to have digital, pirated, or nonexistent textbooks, to the point where things like "open book exams" are considered outrageous.