Apple iPad users might have been shocked to discover this weekend that navigating to the Post's pages from Safari is no longer allowed
As newspapers and other forms of media continue to struggle with rising printing costs and declining advertising revenues, we've seen a number of different solutions tested, most of them taking the form of digital paywalls that, like traditional subscriptions, require readers to pay for access to content. Some will probably fail and some may succeed, but if the New York TImes' multi-million dollar paywall has taught us anything it's that you need to be very careful how you go about erecting these things.
The Times' paywall, which was only recently put up after the possibility of its construction had been talked about for years, is so full of intentional holes that it operates more like the PBS fundraising model, which is to nudge readers toward giving rather than stealing. It's quiet, operating in the background and, every once in a while, letting you know that you've already read X number of articles for free this month. Don't you think it's time to give a little? The new paywall blocking access to the New York Post is the opposite: It's a digital assault that risks offending readers and turning them to alternative news sources for good.