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The Great Irish Times Scam App

  • 18-04-2010 10:17am
    #1
    Yeager101
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 41 ✭


    Ok,
    So am I the only one that has caught onto this?
    I wanted to read the irishtimes news on my iphone, but as there was no app for ages, I went to www.m.theirishtimes.com (notice the m for their mobile wap site)

    It formats great n the screen, so I added it to the home screen and used it as an app and have been ding so for about 6 months now. Anyone can do this.

    So, there I am happily using the app, browsing sections etc. We also had a business interest in working with the times which I wont go into here.

    So now, they release The Irish Times iPhone application and charge €1.59 for the thing. So I had a look at the app and it is a copy, if even worse looking than the www.m.theirishtimes.com url I added to my home screen. The UIX is poor looking and graphics look like something you would have a year 1 design student do.

    People of Ireland. Please dont keep paying for something that they are already offering for free. All you have to do is go to the URL I mentioned above on your iPhone, then click the + symbol on the bottom of the screen and click 'add to home screen. You have now just saved yourself the €1.59 app price.

    So with that off my chest, I can now explain that it will probably only take them about a year to follow the independent.ie model of subscription models for the news through this app.
    Mark my words, just like the independent apps, this will start to limit the amount of stories you can read each day unless you pay the €2.50 per month or per week for the subscription.

    It used to be my job for a very wealthy company to figure out these type of billing mechanisms form a user point of view and the strategy. I have no doubt that this is what will happen in the next 12 months with the Irish Times.


Comments

  • #2
    John_Mc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,793 ✭✭✭John_Mc


    Yeager101 wrote: »
    Ok,
    So am I the only one that has caught onto this?
    I wanted to read the irishtimes news on my iphone, but as there was no app for ages, I went to www.m.theirishtimes.com (notice the m for their mobile wap site)

    It formats great n the screen, so I added it to the home screen and used it as an app and have been ding so for about 6 months now. Anyone can do this.

    So, there I am happily using the app, browsing sections etc. We also had a business interest in working with the times which I wont go into here.

    So now, they release The Irish Times iPhone application and charge €1.59 for the thing. So I had a look at the app and it is a copy, if even worse looking than the www.m.theirishtimes.com url I added to my home screen. The UIX is poor looking and graphics look like something you would have a year 1 design student do.

    People of Ireland. Please dont keep paying for something that they are already offering for free. All you have to do is go to the URL I mentioned above on your iPhone, then click the + symbol on the bottom of the screen and click 'add to home screen. You have now just saved yourself the €1.59 app price.

    So with that off my chest, I can now explain that it will probably only take them about a year to follow the independent.ie model of subscription models for the news through this app.
    Mark my words, just like the independent apps, this will start to limit the amount of stories you can read each day unless you pay the €2.50 per month or per week for the subscription.

    It used to be my job for a very wealthy company to figure out these type of billing mechanisms form a user point of view and the strategy. I have no doubt that this is what will happen in the next 12 months with the Irish Times.

    Yeah I was going to buy it but then I read the reviews and they're very poor. The mobile version of their website has no advertising, so they are not making any revenue off it at all. Because of this, it would be understandable for them to introduce a subscription fee of some sort.

    That said, Rupert Murdoch has already tried this unsuccessfully.


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