Could Amazon’s New Kindle save the New York Times?

*updated 2/10/09

2 weeks after suggesting radio should look to podcasting for growth and newspaper may be able to reinvent itself through new technology (Local TV’s not Dead, it’s Moving to a Gated Community) an interesting post by@Andrew303, on my twitter feed, caught my eye:

Printing The NYT Costs Twice As Much As Sending Every Subscriber A Free Kindle

Not that it’s anything we think the New York Times Company should do, but we thought it was worth pointing out that it would cost the Times about half as much money to send every single one of its subscribers a brand new Amazon Kindle instead of a physical newspaper each day. more…

So that got me thinking about the media futurists I read who have counted out the possibility of newspapers successfully monetizing the web. Perhaps digital paper is too far off to be a feasible new way to read the “paper” but is it too far fetched to say that a new technology could save them? Perhaps a new Kindle or some larger “e-book” friendlier version of the iPhone? *Michelle Machmanus, of OHL, pointed out via a Linkedin discussion there is new thinner & lighter tech on the way like a fascinating e-book reader from PlasticLogic.com.

Certainly newspapers will have to create a new business model shedding expensive presses and delivery staff regardless, but what if major newspapers got in bed with tech companies much like the Apple & At&T deal? Right now devices like the Kindle are extremely expensive for average consumers who don’t travel much and they compete with lower priced gadgets like cell phones. Could a subscription model emerge that would subsidize the cost of a Kindle (for example) enough to convince the consumer to purchase a Kindle and a NY Times subscription? Do Randomhouse and other book publishers need to get on board to create an Itunes version for newspapers and books?

Through my own experience working in media, I believe the newspaper industries biggest challenge is cultural not technological. Maybe it won’t be a newspaper investing in new tech, maybe an “Amazon.com” will purchase a newspaper’s identity, hire a slew of unemployed writers, editors & photographers, deploy them across the across the country and create a new generation of Kindle News.

What? It could happen:-)

Unfortunately I have not used a Kindle prior to writing this and don’t know how the user experience of reading a newspaper on one would rate. I do have an ipod Touch and find that reading e-magazines on it is do-able, although not ideal. If you have a Kindle or some insight as to what it would take to make the leap from paper to e-gadget, please weigh-in below in the comments and let me know if you would subscribe to national / local news sites if they gave you a discounted Kindle or iPhone.

-Richard

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