17 ms·

I had to read the email I got about this several times because it didn't seem to make sense. Hang on, my New York Times subscription is going to end in Septembe

by mrwh 4y ago

I had to read the email I got about this several times because it didn't seem to make sense. Hang on, my New York Times subscription is going to end in September and then... that's it? The Kindle is wonderful for reading newspapers on, and now - what? And why? I'm sure that someone has a very good reason for the change. I'm also sure that I've never seen a deprecation so poorly communicated.

somenameforme 4y ago
From reading the article and its subsequent links, it sounds like they're trying to transition from a la carte purchases, to an all-in-one Netflix model. It's probably just a power play against publishers - swap to Kindle Unlimited and take a [presumably] smaller cut, or get nothing at all. And I'd expect it to work.
- dehrmann 4y ago
  I've had a Kindle subscription to The Atlantic for a long time. I only look at it from time to time, but the price is low, and I don't feel guilty when I read their website for free. I couldn't quickly find out if they're even on Kindle Unlimited, and I don't read enough to make KU worth it.
kaishiro 4y ago
"I'm sure that someone has a very good reason for the change." Call me jaded, but the older I get the less faith I have that this is actually true.
- mrwh 4y ago
  Oh to be clear, I'm including "VP responsible gets a bonus". I certainly don't mean necessarily a good reason for the rest of us!
CobrastanJorji 4y ago
Amazon doesn't want you to have a subscription to the New York Times. Amazon wants you to have a subscription to Amazon Unlimited, which would include access to the New York Times. Amazon would then pay the New York Times and all other periodicals an amount that Amazon thinks is fair based on how many people are reading their articles, like Amazon Unlimited books. This is very bad for big periodicals with many subscribers. Under the current model, they get a predictable amount of income and are motivated by keeping the bar high for their content, lest they lose subscribers. Under the new model, their income is entirely based on how many people pick up that issue and read it, which makes it very hard to budget. It also likely means an inevitable slide into "politician SLAMMED other politican, and you'll NEVER BELIEVE what happened next" headlines, since extra clicks are very directly your periodical's source of income. This is very good news for Amazon because it gives them far more bargaining power against publishers. Right now, if The New York Times decides that Amazon's terms favor Amazon too strongly, the Times walks, and Amazon doesn't get any more money from Times subscribers. Under this system, if the Times walks because Amazon terms favor Amazon too strongly, Amazon keeps the subscribers. This is moderately good news for customers who read a bunch of stuff on Amazon Unlimited. You now get to read whatever you like for probably around the same cost, and the stuff you naturally choose to read will end up getting a bit of money from it. Yay. This is probably moderately good news for niche, popcorn periodicals. If you have a "Werewolf Romance Weekly Short Fiction" magazine or "DIY Productivity Tip Of the Week" newsletter, you'll quite possibly make way more money by attracting idly browsing Amazon Unlimited customers than you would have been able to if you had needed to convince people to subscribe to your service.
- PradeetPatel 4y ago
  Thank you for the thoughtful explanation. I never thought about it from that angle before, that is such a powerful move from Amazon that I believe most of us can learn something from.
  - kqr 4y ago
    It's also known as "commoditise your complement": https://gwern.net/complement https://gwern.net/complement
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - brutusurp 4y ago
    Except customers will just leave Amazon. Like they are doing with Music, and Video, and Prime. This move disadvantages everyone except Amazon. It should be investigated by SEC.
    - DharmaPolice 4y ago
      If customers leave Amazon surely that disadvantages Amazon too?
  - ohgodplsno 4y ago
    "I'm sure we could learn something from how Amazon contributes to the destruction of something already both so fragile and crucial, the press" isn't exactly a good look, but go ahead.
  - andrepd 4y ago
    > that is such a powerful move from Amazon that I believe most of us can learn something from. I don't think that was the intended message here.
- Espressosaurus 4y ago
  I've seen how they've made it harder and harder to download your entire music collection, as well as how they're pushing their music streaming. At this point I'm just waiting for the same thing to happen to their ala cart music service, and it's very disappointing.
vishnugupta 4y ago
For a bunch of reasons I'm done with Kindle. For a decade (~2010-2020) I've bought hundreds of books and read quite a few on Kindle. But from late last year when I started reading physical books again (Kindle version wasn't available) I've gotten to appreciate the physical form again. Nice fonts, ease of flipping pages, random access etc., And as an added advantage my kids now get to see my taste and maybe find some of books interesting just because they are on a rack. I'm back to building my physical library. Could also be due to me growing old. But I don't want to beholden to Amazon's whims.
- teruakohatu 4y ago
  Not to mention that the ebooks are not cheaper, or if they are not by much.
  - Ma8ee 4y ago
    The moment you want to lend a friend a copy they are more expensive.
  - BossingAround 4y ago
    This was mind blowing to me. I can understand games did not become much cheaper by being electronic-only (though it did give rise to much cheaper indie games) but like 16 years ago when Kindle came out, I thought paperless books would slash the consumer prices by at least half. Turns out the publisher just increased their margins.
    - andrepd 4y ago
      While the author's share has not increased at all.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - 4y ago
chemmail 4y ago
Basically Amazon went Spotify on Prints ass.
thazework 4y ago
Absolutely agree on it being poorly communicated, only heard about in this thread! In terms of alternatives, buying an Android powered E-reader and subscribing to the publication via the app or the e-newspaper service could work, although it will not be as optimized for E ink of course. The advantage of Boox and other Android E-readers is that you can access whatever you want, and the browsing experience for text heavy websites is decent.
- ilt 4y ago
  Exactly! Especially since most mobile browsers have a decent reading mode these days.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
Does Calibre still do a good job of fetching the entire NYT and emailing it to the Kindle each day? I used to use that feature heavily for a good handful of news sites.

by mrwh 4y ago

somenameforme 4y ago

From reading the article and its subsequent links, it sounds like they're trying to transition from a la carte purchases, to an all-in-one Netflix model. It's probably just a power play against publishers - swap to Kindle Unlimited and take a [presumably] smaller cut, or get nothing at all. And I'd expect it to work.

dehrmann 4y ago
I've had a Kindle subscription to The Atlantic for a long time. I only look at it from time to time, but the price is low, and I don't feel guilty when I read their website for free. I couldn't quickly find out if they're even on Kindle Unlimited, and I don't read enough to make KU worth it.

kaishiro 4y ago

"I'm sure that someone has a very good reason for the change." Call me jaded, but the older I get the less faith I have that this is actually true.

mrwh 4y ago
Oh to be clear, I'm including "VP responsible gets a bonus". I certainly don't mean necessarily a good reason for the rest of us!

CobrastanJorji 4y ago

Amazon doesn't want you to have a subscription to the New York Times. Amazon wants you to have a subscription to Amazon Unlimited, which would include access to the New York Times. Amazon would then pay the New York Times and all other periodicals an amount that Amazon thinks is fair based on how many people are reading their articles, like Amazon Unlimited books. This is very bad for big periodicals with many subscribers. Under the current model, they get a predictable amount of income and are motivated by keeping the bar high for their content, lest they lose subscribers. Under the new model, their income is entirely based on how many people pick up that issue and read it, which makes it very hard to budget. It also likely means an inevitable slide into "politician SLAMMED other politican, and you'll NEVER BELIEVE what happened next" headlines, since extra clicks are very directly your periodical's source of income. This is very good news for Amazon because it gives them far more bargaining power against publishers. Right now, if The New York Times decides that Amazon's terms favor Amazon too strongly, the Times walks, and Amazon doesn't get any more money from Times subscribers. Under this system, if the Times walks because Amazon terms favor Amazon too strongly, Amazon keeps the subscribers. This is moderately good news for customers who read a bunch of stuff on Amazon Unlimited. You now get to read whatever you like for probably around the same cost, and the stuff you naturally choose to read will end up getting a bit of money from it. Yay. This is probably moderately good news for niche, popcorn periodicals. If you have a "Werewolf Romance Weekly Short Fiction" magazine or "DIY Productivity Tip Of the Week" newsletter, you'll quite possibly make way more money by attracting idly browsing Amazon Unlimited customers than you would have been able to if you had needed to convince people to subscribe to your service.

PradeetPatel 4y ago
Thank you for the thoughtful explanation. I never thought about it from that angle before, that is such a powerful move from Amazon that I believe most of us can learn something from.
- kqr 4y ago
  It's also known as "commoditise your complement": https://gwern.net/complement https://gwern.net/complement
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- brutusurp 4y ago
  Except customers will just leave Amazon. Like they are doing with Music, and Video, and Prime. This move disadvantages everyone except Amazon. It should be investigated by SEC.
  - DharmaPolice 4y ago
    If customers leave Amazon surely that disadvantages Amazon too?
- ohgodplsno 4y ago
  "I'm sure we could learn something from how Amazon contributes to the destruction of something already both so fragile and crucial, the press" isn't exactly a good look, but go ahead.
- andrepd 4y ago
  > that is such a powerful move from Amazon that I believe most of us can learn something from. I don't think that was the intended message here.
Espressosaurus 4y ago
I've seen how they've made it harder and harder to download your entire music collection, as well as how they're pushing their music streaming. At this point I'm just waiting for the same thing to happen to their ala cart music service, and it's very disappointing.

vishnugupta 4y ago

For a bunch of reasons I'm done with Kindle. For a decade (~2010-2020) I've bought hundreds of books and read quite a few on Kindle. But from late last year when I started reading physical books again (Kindle version wasn't available) I've gotten to appreciate the physical form again. Nice fonts, ease of flipping pages, random access etc., And as an added advantage my kids now get to see my taste and maybe find some of books interesting just because they are on a rack. I'm back to building my physical library. Could also be due to me growing old. But I don't want to beholden to Amazon's whims.

teruakohatu 4y ago
Not to mention that the ebooks are not cheaper, or if they are not by much.
- Ma8ee 4y ago
  The moment you want to lend a friend a copy they are more expensive.
- BossingAround 4y ago
  This was mind blowing to me. I can understand games did not become much cheaper by being electronic-only (though it did give rise to much cheaper indie games) but like 16 years ago when Kindle came out, I thought paperless books would slash the consumer prices by at least half. Turns out the publisher just increased their margins.
  - andrepd 4y ago
    While the author's share has not increased at all.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - 4y ago

chemmail 4y ago

Basically Amazon went Spotify on Prints ass.

thazework 4y ago

Absolutely agree on it being poorly communicated, only heard about in this thread! In terms of alternatives, buying an Android powered E-reader and subscribing to the publication via the app or the e-newspaper service could work, although it will not be as optimized for E ink of course. The advantage of Boox and other Android E-readers is that you can access whatever you want, and the browsing experience for text heavy websites is decent.

ilt 4y ago
Exactly! Especially since most mobile browsers have a decent reading mode these days.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago

Does Calibre still do a good job of fetching the entire NYT and emailing it to the Kindle each day? I used to use that feature heavily for a good handful of news sites.