The New York Times‘ paid subscription scheme is scheduled to go live today at 2 p.m. ET, and to ease the transition the Times is offering initial steep discounts on all tiers of its service. Originally announced 11 days ago, the service has been operational in Canada since March 17 as sort of a beta test for the global launch which begins today.
For complete access to the Times‘ digital content, users will have to pay for access at four-week intervals. The system is also tiered, granting access to web browsers at all levels, smartphones on the $15 tier, tablets on the $20 tier, and a $35 all-access level.
Perhaps in an effort to ease the transition, or build up a paying user-base, the New York Times is offering all levels of the service for $0.99 for four weeks of use. At the top-level all-access tier, this would save the user $34.
For those that need a refresher, the new pay wall will limit non-paying users to 20 articles per month, a limited number of free discoveries through search engines, and an unlimited number of articles which are tweeted or emailed. Current smartphone and tablet app users will continue to have access to the Top Stories tab.
So, for all you freeloaders out there, enjoy these last few hours of unfettered access and get ready to start rationing your 20 articles. (Yes, there are plenty of well-documented ways to get around the paywall, but you are a person of honor, right?)
