17528068
submission
takowl writes
"Techcrunch reckons that Facebook will launch an email service at its press event later today. Is this to be welcomed as a formerly closed entity deciding to work with a key open standard on the net? Or is it another move towards a web dominated by Facebook? And could Google have got wind early, prompting their recent spat over contact data?"Link to Original Source
17314400
submission
takowl writes
"Its been a few months since The Times newspaper in the UK (part of the Murdoch stable) hid its online stories behind a paywall. The media watched eagerly to see if people would pay for news online. Now The Times has uncovered its first results: some 105,000 have coughed up online, and another 100,000 print subscribers have access. Naturally, the paper is keen to promote this as a success: some people are willing to pay. The BBC's technology correspondent, on the other hand, reckons: "it's safe to assume that Times Newspapers has yet to achieve the same revenues from its paywall experiment that were available when its website was free." Will online subscribers help the Times survive? Will other papers follow its lead?"Link to Original Source
15238000
submission
takowl writes
"Wired reckons that the web is dead, falling to a closed world of apps and pay platforms. The two columns ask who's to blame, "us" or "them", but essentially seem to agree that the development was inevitable: without a reliable way to make money on the web, companies want something else, and now that the platform's maturing, consumers will be happy with walled gardens like those that fell in years gone by. They don't discuss the security question much, but it's probably another factor in favour of closed platforms. Wired even mention their earlier article along similar lines, but more or less say "this time it's different!""Link to Original Source
