Discussion on:
Message 1 of 1
... is a hard thing to do. Virtually every business that makes available physical things, has a pay wall that allows it to make money. (E.g. you can't walk out of a store without paying for the stuff you picked up.) When it comes to IP, the most straightforward way to make money is to erect a paywall as well. E.g. users typically pay for software, ebooks, and music downloads. It is very few companies that make lots of money without erecting paywalls. Therefore the business models that will suit most producers of IP, are likely ones with paywalls. This means that digital magazines / newspapers / newsstands with paywalls, that offer superior content and user experiences for sale, will likely be the business models which save the publishing industry. However, these business models have to be executed well. Businesses as well as industry watchers should not be surprised when there are situations where customers are screaming over and over about wanting subscriptions, and publishers are not responding to them (for one reason or another) about this and other issues, that things seem to stall. Publishers have to be highly responsive to user demand, for these business models to take off. E.g. Barnes & Noble has done extremely well by selling over 650,000 periodical subscriptions from its Nook device since November.
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
