當人們不再追問「紙本媒體會不會沒落？」、「電子書可不可能取代紙本書？」或「傳統報紙是不是將要被消滅？」
轉而探討「紙本媒體何時沒落？」、「電子書何時取代紙本書？」或「傳統報紙何時要被消滅？」時，或許，也正是傳統紙本媒體必須作出關鍵決策的時候。
曾經一度收費，後來又整個放棄收費政策的紐約時報New York Times，似乎又準備好要重新實施收費政策。
New York Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. appears close to announcing that the paper will begin charging for access to its website, according to people familiar with internal deliberations. After a year of sometimes fraught debate inside the paper, the choice for some time has been between a Wall Street Journal-type pay wall and the metered system adopted by the Financial Times, in which readers can sample a certain number of free articles before being asked to subscribe. The Times seems to have settled on the metered system.
via New York Times Ready to Charge Online Readers -- Daily Intel
根據NY Mag的報導，紐約時報已經就是否重新收費的問題，討論了一整年。
紐約時報之所以選擇在2010年初，放風聲試水溫，據說與蘋果www.apple.com將在本月27日正式發表平板電腦的謡言甚囂塵上有極大關係。
Apple's tablet computer is rumored to launch on January 27, and sources speculate that Sulzberger will strike a content partnership for the new device, which could dovetail with the paid strategy.
紐約時報正在慎重考慮的收費方案大概有三種：
- 採行華爾街日報The Wall Street Journal的收費模式：即部份免費，部份必須收費訂閱。
- 採行定額定量（Metered System）的收費模式：預先設定瀏覽篇數或頁數，超出預定額度就啟動收費訂閱。
- 採行付費會員享有進階權益福利（NPR-style membership model）的收費模式：即重返2007年秋天之前的收費模式。
基本上，並沒有什麼稱得上是變革的新東西，只能說數位週邊硬體與閱聽大眾共演的大環境改變，讓傳統紙本媒體不得不作出調整，並且期待相同的作法，會有截然不同的結果。
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