Why Digital Newsstands Stink

An anonymous reader writes "As Google prepares to compete with Apple in the digital newsstand business, both companies seem to be glossing over the fact that consumer demand for digital magazines is dropping. 'Wired's collapse from 100,000 iPad copies in June to 23,000 in November was most dramatic, but the story is not much different at Glamour, Vanity Fair, GQ or Men's Health.' Meanwhile, issues of subscriber privacy continue to crop up — Google has reportedly told publishers it will supply certain information about subscribers, and it's not clear whether users will have the ability to opt-out. And according to the Wall Street Journal, 'Apple is planning to share more data about who downloads a publisher's app, information publishers can use for marketing purposes.'"

Comments

Its the cost.

[MrQuacker]

My subscription to Esquire is something silly, like $12 a year. Not taking into account the cost of the iPad, buying the iPad version of the magazine costs $5 an issue. That's $12 vs $60 a year.

So, why should I buy the digital version when the print version is not just better, but cheaper? And I dont need a specialized tool to read it.