The New York Times
The New York Times
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 List Price: $1.00 Sale Price: $19.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours 
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Product Description
The New York Times is dedicated to providing news coverage of exceptional depth and breadth, as well as opinion that is thoughtful and stimulating. Widely quoted, and often hotly debated, The New York Times is held by its readers to the highest of standards and continues to be regarded by many as the nation's pre-eminent newspaper. The New York Times has earned an unprecedented 94 Pulitzer Prizes, far more than any other newspaper. A global news staff covers a wide range of interests: from world, national and New York issues to business, culture, science, religion, travel, style, food, sports, health and home. In addition to outside contributors, the editorials page features The New York Times' own team of award-winning columnists: David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, Thomas L. Friedman, Bob Herbert, Nicholas D. Kristof, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich and John Tierney.
The Kindle Edition of The New York Times contains articles found in the print edition, but will not include some images and tables. Also, some features such as the crossword puzzle, box scores and classifieds are not currently available. For your convenience, issues are automatically delivered wirelessly to your Kindle at 5:00 AM on the weekdays and 5:30 AM on weekends New York City local time.
Details
No features available.
Rating
I don’t know what other reviewers have been smoking to think that $13.99 per month for The New York Times is expensive.
Every Sunday before my Kindle came I would pause at newsstands and look longingly at the Sunday New York Times, mentally calculating if it was worth paying four dollars for a huge, heavy, difficult to carry mass of paper that I would have to cart around on a subway and a train until I finally got it home. The Sunday edition alone costs 52 weeks times $4 = $208 — by comparison the Kindle version costs me $13.99 times 12 = $167 for all 365 issues.
Furthermore, my Kindle edition of the New York Times is always ready and waiting for me no matter how early I wake up in the morning. This is always nice, but particularly so on holidays when the the New York Times often sells out at the newsstands early.
I find myself reading a lot more of the New York Times using my Kindle than I used to read in the pre-Kindle era. I particularly find myself reading more of the Arts section. Another good thing about the Kindle edition is that I find myself reading an article from start to finish, whereas there was always a great tendency to skim articles in the pre-Kindle days.
The Kindle New York Times does a good job of including pictures. They are a little fuzzy but good enough to give the general idea.
It’s true there are no classified ads, but it’s rare I need them, so on those occasions I don’t mind buying the paper edition.
I also particularly like the ability on the Kindle to quickly look up the meaning of a word in the New York Times I don’t understand.
I can’t think of any better way to quickly and methodically gain an in depth understanding of the world around us, than to subscribe to the Kindle edition of the New York Times. It’s a truly great newspaper.
Rating
I subscribed to NYTimes on my Kindle, and stopped my paper subscription – savings approach $200/year.
I am not concerned about proprietary format, since I always dispose of newspapers daily. My re-cycle is dramatically reduced, which is great, and I don’t have to go out into the driveway in my nightgown to get the paper. Thank you, Whispernet!
There are 2 significant changes with this subscription format that I like. First, I am paying for content and not advertising. That is wonderful, and I hope it continues. Second, the way I read the newspaper has changed. Instead of reading all of the partial articles on the first page, then picking them up randomly as I go through the paper, I choose an article, and read it entirely. It is so much better for me to focus, then move on.
This is a different product, but one that I am really enjoying.
Rating
Before I start my review, I need to state that I am not a fan of newspapers because of their sizes. Why all newspapers are designed to either force you to open up your arms to read it, or become an origami expert to fold it to have the perfect shape for a comfortable reading process has never made sense to me.
Anyway, I think the Kindle version of the New York times is great, because:
You do not have to fold it to read it.
You can drink your coffee without spilling it on yourself, or a family member, since you can see the mug in front of you.
My paper will be delivered on time, no matter what, and it will not be damaged by any external factor, such as rain, dog, people, etc. I will not have to go outside to pick it up, either.
Pictures are quite good, although not perfect, which would be redundant anyway.
A couple improvement ideas:
In the article list, the editorials are shown with the title and a short quote from the article. I think the list should also include the author’s name.
I have to go through a lot of pages to find an article I really feel is important. To make the navigation easier, article titles can be made more concise, and more articles can be shown on one page. This can be included as an option.
In the sections list, if each section can have a collapsible article list, that would be fantastic.
Rating
My Kindle arrived the middle of January and I was very excited to download a Saturday New York Times. The experience is great. The price is perfect, no longer do I need to find a Starbucks (only place in Tampa that has NYT) and dish out $1.75 (plus a latte of course) to read a quality well written newspaper (can I even refer to it as a newspaper?). Sunday is an even better deal ($.075 vs. $4).
I love the way the paper is in a linear format. No longer do I have to turn to some obscure page in the middle to finish the story I was reading between a sea of others distracting me. I feel that because I can read the stories one at a time, I get more out of each article. I even find myself reading stories I may have normally looked over in a paper format.
So, all in all, a great format for me and my Kindle. The NYT is now my weekend ritual.
Rating
I bought the Kindle because I got tired of lugging around a book bag full of books everywhere I went. I wanted the ability to have my textbooks on the Kindle and to leave the bookbag home. SO far that’s been a good deal. I never even considered a subscription. When the Kindle came I noticed there was a 14 day free trial and so I thought I’d give it a try. When I lived in New York, I loved the NY Times and it has remained my favorite newspaper of the last 40 years. But it was impossible to get a copy where live. If I wanted to read it, I had to travel into town to get a copy, or settle for mail delivery many days after the fact. Since it was free on Kindle for 14 days, I thought, “Why not?”
Now my subscription to the Times has become my reason to love the Kindle. Sure I’ve downloaded lots of books onto the Kindle. But every morning I get up, turn on my Kindle, brew some coffee, and by the time I get back to the Kindle that day’s edition has been downloaded. I love it. I can quickly skim through that days articles and decide which ones I want to read with coffee and which I want to savor later in the day.
What a joy it is to have it automaticaly there for me every morning. Leaving my book bag at home, now, I have all my books with me and if I only have a few minutes later in the day, I now have the chance to pull out the Kindle and read the articles I’d saved for later reading!
Rating
The Kindle edition of the New York Times solves a big problem for me…I no longer have to decide between either lugging a laptop around or sitting at my computer to read the New York Times and purchasing an enormous amount of paper to recycle. As all of us Kindle lovers know, reading a Kindle is as pleasurable as reading a book curled up on the couch and now I can get the latest Times edition w/o the aforementioned problems. I do agree that the $13.99 price is a bit steep and would much rather see $9.99 but in all honesty, I don’t mind spending the additional $3.99 because in the long run it will encourage the industry to support the Kindle which is (I think) the most marvelous invention since the proverbial sliced bread.
This is the future…and I am embracing it!
Rating
I have been subscribed to the Times on the Kindle for six months now and wanted to comment on the lay out. They altered it last week and it is, far and away, the best lay out of all the papers. They list the who wrote the story for every section, not just the op-ed as before. They give more summary of the story. And, best of all, after reading an article, the next article is right there waiting so you can see if you want to read it instead of having to hit an additional button. It might not sound like much, but it safes a lot of time. With the other newspapers–Post, Journal, etc.–it is difficult to find certain articles even when you know where it should be in the paper. For example, the Post has its daily book review in the Style section. However, it is often hard to even find the book review. Or, if you want to read, say, Tony Kornheiser’s column before he left the Post, you have to go through all of the headlines before finding it.
So, I want to applaud the Times for the changes and urge the other papers, and magazines (who have the same problems), to the layout of the Times and make the changes. We all know that the Kindle is the future, especially every day where we read about more lay offs at all the papers. It is a cheaper alternative for the papers and eventually every magazine and newspaper is going to go to it. I just hope they all continue to improve the lay off.
And, does any one know if there is a website with information on when other newspaper or magazines are going to come to the Kindle. Where is The New Yorker, NY Review of Books, and all the other great magazines and papers that haven’t made it to the Kindle yet? I think once a day I’m checking back, like I used to do when all the new podcasts were coming to Itunes.
Rating
There’s no way I’d get through the whole New York Times every day (I barely get through the much slimmer Washington Post as it is), so subscribing just doesn’t make sense for me. That’s my problem though, not the fault of the Times or Amazon.
What I like is that you don’t have to subscribe, you can simply pick up single issues when you want to read them, just as you can with other Kindle magazines and newspapers. Amazon currently charges 75 cents for a single issue of the Kindle NYT, which is a great deal on the Sunday edition. This fat delivery includes the usual book reviews, magazine, extended op/eds, and travel (among other regular sections).
As with other Kindle newspapers, it’s well-formatted and easy to navigate. Dithered black and white pictures are occasionally included; for my six bits I could take or leave them. Editorial content is identical to that of the paper newspaper with minor omissions like TV guides, crossword puzzles, and advertising. The best part? Nothing to recycle when you’re finished reading.
Rating
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how I was going to give The New York Times a test drive on my Kindle. As a charter member of the Tightwad’s Club I was also griping about the rather pricey $13.99 monthly subscription rate. Regardless, I figured I might as well use the free two-week trial that’s offered to all Kindle owners.
Two weeks and two business trips later, I’m here to tell you that this subscription is worth every penny of the $13.99/month. How many times have you struggled to read a newspaper on a flight? Whether it’s folding it up, knocking things over or just getting all that nasty ink on your hands, I’ve never found it convenient to read a paper on an airplane. The Kindle newspaper experience is, of course, a breeze by comparison.
I especially loved it that no matter where I was in the country I knew when I woke up the latest edition was waiting for me. Then there’s the quality of the content. Sorry, Indianapolis Star editorial team, but I can’t believe the quality OpEd material I’ve been missing out on. Thomas Friedman alone is probably worth the $13.99 monthly fee. In fact, I’m now struggling with whether I should bother maintaining a subscription to the Indianapolis Star. The only thing that’s standing between me and cancellation is my wife; she enjoys reading it, particularly since she doesn’t get regular access to the Times on my Kindle.
Are there drawbacks? Sure. The “Back” button doesn’t always take me where I think it should. I’ve also had a couple more Kindle lockups while reading the Times. And although it’s kind of nice to read a paper with no ads, it feels odd. A work colleague was showing me his new 3G iPhone the other day and mentioned that The New York Times is completely free on it. As I tried it out I noticed subtle ads at the bottom of each screen. I’m not sure if that’s how Apple is funding free access to the Times but Amazon should explore the same option, even if it’s only to lower the price further and bring in a much larger audience.
The other thing that still feels strange is how this service straddles the fence between static and dynamic content. All you’re getting is an image of each day’s newspaper, which is fine, but since I have a live connection why not offer periodic updates throughout the day? The Times website offers breaking news from time to time, so why not push that out to Kindle subscribers as well?
Overall though I’m now a huge fan of The New York Times and am thoroughly enjoying the experience of reading it on my Kindle.
Joe Wikert
Kindleville Blog (www.kindleville.com)
Rating
I didn’t purchase the Kindle 1 because of its poor reviews for reading newspapers. I expected this would be fixed in version 2, and I’m delighted to say it was. Therefore, although I’ve subscribed to daily delivery of the NYT for more than 40 years, I canceled my paper subscription and subscribed on my Kindle. I have been paying $13.40 per week or $696.80 a year. With the Kindle, I am now paying $167.88 a year. Therefore, even in Year 1, after spending over $400 with the cover and extended warranty for the Kindle, I will be saving more than $100 and over $500 each subsequent year.
Pros:
* You get to finish the front page and all other stories that are continued elsewhere without having to turn to page X and then back to the front page. ( I’ve generally read the FP articles I was interested in and then turned through the rest of the first section, picking up the articles as I went through the section). How many times have you not finished an article because you didn’t have time to go through the paper?
*Articles for each section are easily sorted so you can pick the ones you are interested in and then return to the list
* YOU CAN ADJUST THE FONT. For me and other older, visually challenged readers, that’s a huge plus.
* Just as a blackberry enables me to keep all of my contact and schedule data in one place, the kindle does the same for the majority of what I will be reading.
* It is like reading a book, not at all like reading a computer screen with back lighting that tires your eyes
* Easier reading experience= more reading
* With the ability to turn a page with the touch of a finger, easier to eat while reading. Furthermore, if you like to read the paper in bed while your spouse is sleeping, there is no noise from page turning.
Cons:
*I find the “black flash” when you turn a page somewhat annoying. I’ve gotten in the habit of looking away for a second when I hit the next page button to avoid this. Ideally the new page should appear without any flash
* It’s slightly heavier than I would prefer but the size is perfect.
* The web access feature is experimental and did not work when I tried a simple search using google.
* You can’t email an article directly from the kindle. You have to download clipping to your computer with usb cable.
It’s not perfect, but it’s a better reading experience than the paper version and, if you’re a NYT subscriber a money saver as well.