Gawker reports on the dispute that could define the digital future of the New York Times. Internal factions are fighting over who will control the iPad app under the deal with Apple. The print circulation people (“Paper First!”) consider the iPad just another way to distribute the newspaper. They want to protect the print edition by charging $20-$30 a month for iPad content. The digital operation people (“Bits & Bytes Rule!”) will create interactive content for the iPad, and insist the fee should be much lower at $10 a month.
Spectators are lobbing grenades back and forth and their comments are almost as good as the story. One reader says Times execs are “completely disconnected from reality. “ Another calls it a case of “classic marketing myopia.”
