eEdition generates comments, questions
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Enterprise readers have had more than a week to explore and experiment with the newspaper's eEdition. Their reactions could probably best be characterized as "mixed," though most were generally positive.
The move to the electronic product was characterized as everything from "sneaky" to "a great idea."
One reader, who called the change "sad," complained that people who can't afford to purchase a paper will no longer be able to read the full newspaper on BeaumontEnterprise.com.He (or she) is correct, though the entire newspaper was never online. We have made the decision to stop giving away to some people what we charge others for.
It's a change that, like most we've made, seems to make good business sense.
BeaumontEnterprise. com will still exist, but it's an entirely different product than the eEdition. It will still contain frequent breaking news updates, photo galleries, photo sharing, videos, blogs and other features, but it no longer contains entire stories that were published in the print edition.
As one reader put it: "They cannot afford to give away their reporting any more than Kroger can afford to give away food. Reporting costs."
For the reader complaining about being able to afford the news -- the electronic delivery price is about half of the cost of the print edition. EleceEdition tronic delivery is $8.95 per month. Current print subscribers who want to add an eEdition subscription receive a discounted rate of $4.25 per month.
If you still haven't tried it, check out the features of the service vby way of a demonstration at this link.
If you decide you're ready to commit to this new era of journalism, you can click the eEdition button at top right of the homepage or go to this link.
Or call toll free 1 (800) 891-3638.
One curious reader this week tried to read a little something extra into the launch of the eEdition.
She wanted to know if this means The Enterprise is discontinuing its print edition.
The answer is an emphatic "no." The eEdition is merely an alternative way to provide news to those who are interested in getting it.
It is a greener choice involving electronic delivery rather than paper.
It's also a good alternative for out-of-town readers who don't want to wait for the mail to arrive to read the news.
The eEdition is not a replacement for the newspaper; it's an alternative form of delivery.
* * *
More than one reader has called in the last week to complain about feeling left out.
All were subscribers who don't own computers and don't want to have anything to do with computers.
Their complaint was that, more and more, we seem to put extra features on our Web page that aren't available in our print edition.
That's true.
That's a big reason our Web site exists.
The print edition has a finite amount of space and that space has grown smaller as advertising has declined -- a sign of both the economy and overall societal changes.
The Internet, on the other hand, has virtually unlimited space.
That means we can include information such as the list of new Texas laws taking effect today, complete football schedules and databases with the salaries of Jefferson County employees -- things that we'd never have -- and never have had -- the space to put in the printed edition.
Readers who don't have access to a computer will miss out on that information, just as they miss the opportunity to get on-line-only values from stores or print their own coupons.
We're not trying to keep them from getting all the information we have available, we just provide that information in a variety of ways.
One of those ways is by way of computer.
Enterprise readers have had more than a week to explore and experiment with the newspaper's eEdition. Their reactions could probably best be characterized as "mixed," though most were generally positive.
The move to the electronic product was characterized as everything from "sneaky" to "a great idea."
One reader, who called the change "sad," complained that people who can't afford to purchase a paper will no longer be able to read the full newspaper on BeaumontEnterprise.com.He (or she) is correct, though the entire newspaper was never online. We have made the decision to stop giving away to some people what we charge others for.
It's a change that, like most we've made, seems to make good business sense.
BeaumontEnterprise. com will still exist, but it's an entirely different product than the eEdition. It will still contain frequent breaking news updates, photo galleries, photo sharing, videos, blogs and other features, but it no longer contains entire stories that were published in the print edition.
As one reader put it: "They cannot afford to give away their reporting any more than Kroger can afford to give away food. Reporting costs."
For the reader complaining about being able to afford the news -- the electronic delivery price is about half of the cost of the print edition. EleceEdition tronic delivery is $8.95 per month. Current print subscribers who want to add an eEdition subscription receive a discounted rate of $4.25 per month.
If you still haven't tried it, check out the features of the service vby way of a demonstration at this link.
If you decide you're ready to commit to this new era of journalism, you can click the eEdition button at top right of the homepage or go to this link.
Or call toll free 1 (800) 891-3638.
One curious reader this week tried to read a little something extra into the launch of the eEdition.
She wanted to know if this means The Enterprise is discontinuing its print edition.
The answer is an emphatic "no." The eEdition is merely an alternative way to provide news to those who are interested in getting it.
It is a greener choice involving electronic delivery rather than paper.
It's also a good alternative for out-of-town readers who don't want to wait for the mail to arrive to read the news.
The eEdition is not a replacement for the newspaper; it's an alternative form of delivery.
* * *
More than one reader has called in the last week to complain about feeling left out.
All were subscribers who don't own computers and don't want to have anything to do with computers.
Their complaint was that, more and more, we seem to put extra features on our Web page that aren't available in our print edition.
That's true.
That's a big reason our Web site exists.
The print edition has a finite amount of space and that space has grown smaller as advertising has declined -- a sign of both the economy and overall societal changes.
The Internet, on the other hand, has virtually unlimited space.
That means we can include information such as the list of new Texas laws taking effect today, complete football schedules and databases with the salaries of Jefferson County employees -- things that we'd never have -- and never have had -- the space to put in the printed edition.
Readers who don't have access to a computer will miss out on that information, just as they miss the opportunity to get on-line-only values from stores or print their own coupons.
We're not trying to keep them from getting all the information we have available, we just provide that information in a variety of ways.
One of those ways is by way of computer.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 5:05 PM
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