NY Times Paywall

[Scarpia]

The New York Times now requires a payed subscription to view more than 20 articles per month.  I used to use the NY Times as my default site for reading news and debated getting a subscription.  Then I noticed you can get 20 articles per computer if you don't bother to log into your formerly free account.  You can also get another 20 by switching browser or clearing cookies.  But I find it is not worth the bother to evade the restrictions and I read the Washington Post web site instead.  Anyone here a paying NY Times customer?

[Todd]

I noticed this too last week.  I likewise started relying more on the Washington Post as a result.  Why pay for news when one can get it for free? 

[Scarpia]

They also allow you to read an article if you find it through Google or another search engine.  This results in another evasion method.  Look at the headline page, type the headline of the article into Google, read the article.   But even these minor annoyances have driven me to the Washington Post and BBC news sites.  It is hard for me to believe that this won't make the NY Times a much less influential news organization.

[Todd]

It is hard for me to believe that this won't make the NY Times a much less influential news organization.

A decrease in readership is indeed a problem for an organization like the NY Times. 

Apparently they also have to beef up certain areas of the organization to vet stories more thoroughly: Oops

[Daverz]

Thank god the paywall is there to save me from the temptation to read the natterings of David Brooks and Ross Douthat.

[Philoctetes]

http://www.abyznewslinks.com/

[Sergeant Rock]

The New York Times now requires a payed subscription to view more than 20 articles per month.  I used to use the NY Times as my default site for reading news and debated getting a subscription.  Then I noticed you can get 20 articles per computer if you don't bother to log into your formerly free account.  You can also get another 20 by switching browser or clearing cookies.  But I find it is not worth the bother to evade the restrictions and I read the Washington Post web site instead.  Anyone here a paying NY Times customer?

If the monthly price were $10 I'd consider a subscription. If it were $5 I'd already be a subscriber. Like you and Todd, I switched to the Wash Post but don't like it as well. The cultural news (which I'm most interested in) isn't as extensive or as well written. It seems "provincial" compared to the Times coverage. I don't like the format either. And the "paper" feels stale: some of the same articles I saw a month ago are still on the main page!

I did discover a few days ago (like you did) that clearing cookies reset my article count back to zero. I wonder how long it will be before that hole is plugged.

Sarge

[MishaK]

In an interesting new development, until recently, one was able to read the article by scrolling 'behind' the little "paywall" popup (which only blocked part of the page anyway), even the links worked. But now, once the paywall thing pops up, you can't scroll the article anymore.

[Lethevich]

Won't Google cache negate this? It indexes major sites pretty quickly.

[DavidW]

Google cache is usually weeks behind.

[Lethevich]

Oh weird. I noticed it indexes GMG almost immediately.

[Scarpia]

Won't Google cache negate this? It indexes major sites pretty quickly.

Google cache, if I understand you right, isn't necessary, if you enter a Times article from google or another search engine you can read it even if you are over your quota.  But the process of pasting the headline into google, searching and following the link is clunky enough to make the browsing process less fun. 

[Scarpia]

Just did a little experiment, you can block cookies from the NY Times but then it asks you to log in  before letting you read an article.  If you don't block cookies it will let you view articles without logging in, but will count the number you read.  You can still clear your cookies periodically and reset the counter.

[Lethevich]

I'm sure there will be a Firefox addon to get around it, if it's as simple as a selective block of some kind