Well that didn't take long.
I'm not one of those 'everything online should be free!' people- news costs money and the money's gotta come from somewhere. But the subscription model just isn't a comfortable fit for the culture of the internet and anyone trying to impose it always seems to end up wrestling against the great strengths of the medium.
It's already clear that anyone motivated to avoid the subscription fee will be able to- they can shut down as many workaround Twitter accounts as they want, more will spring up.
The problem is their price point.
$15 a month is, objectively, pretty reasonable for a traditional subscription. But it's enough money that many people will be motivated to find a workaround. I'd have made it five bucks, which is the price point of a few pay sites I've belonged to over the years. Five bucks isn't something it's worth your while to work around. If you like the service, five bucks is a nice tip to the operators, and a reasonable convenience fee for not having to poke around and find 'the loophole' for getting the content is (and there is always a loophole).
For five bucks I'd sign up- Krugman alone would make it worth my while, Mahnola Dargis' movie reviews would just be a bonus.
But for $15 I'll be following the heard to the most popular of the 'free' watering holes that spring up.
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