From an email to me today from the folks at WSJ online:
The Wall Street Journal Online is available free through Saturday, Nov. 12. I’ll still be sending out links this week to select articles that will continue to be free after the week is over.
While the WSJ is a great paper and so it’s nice to see it showing off more of its journalistic chops, this is not nearly as big a deal as it once would have been. Much more interesting would have been if the WSJ had announced it was doing full-text syndication feeds of all news in all sections, now that would be exciting. But merely opening the subscribers-only kimono for a few days, well … pardon me I don’t get too worked up.
Related posts:
Agreed. WSJ is a great read, but in the presence of hurdles accessing it (eg. subscription fee), it’s easy enough to just read something else. It’s not like there’s a dearth of good sources on the web. I used to read it frequently when I had a subscription, but since I let it expire I don’t miss it much.
In my humble opinion the WSJ is easily worth $99 a year (current rate), even if one reads it occasionally rather than daily. There are many good sources on the web, but few excellent sources, and a c-note just ain’t that much. Goes back to personal utility I suppose.
I hope Rupert buys ‘em. With his strategic and financial commitment to making WSJ the dominating paper of record, they could rise up and smite the NYT.
Agreed. I subscribe, so I apparently feel the same way. It will get very interesting, as you say, if Rupert gets the WSJ in his claws.