The Wiki Man

13 February 2010

Much as it pains me to use the Spectator’s pages to plug another publication, I can’t help being impressed by the Economist’s invention of a new kind of subscription service.

Like many people, you probably enjoy the Economist, but just not quite enough to read it every week. Perhaps you simply can’t make time in your busy schedule to learn more about the prospects for electoral reform in Turkmenistan. Or possibly, like me, you know you should know more about Canadian proposals for banking reform, but you are just a bit too easily — ooh, hold on a sec, Deal or No Deal starts in 20 minutes.

So, for people like us, what the Economist has created is perfect. It’s a kind of Subscription Lite. All you do is register at www.economistdirect.com and leave details of your credit card and mobile telephone number. Every Thursday they send you a text message telling you what’s in the forthcoming issue — whether it’s a leading article on Apple or a cut-out-and-keep guide to the Glass-Steagall Act. In the first case, you simply reply to the text message with the word ‘Buy’ and they charge you £2.75 and post you a copy to arrive the next day. In the second instance, you simply do nothing, pay nothing and have the weekend off.

The previous subscription model demanded that you either commit to 50 issues a year or pay the full cover price at the newsstand — an all-or-nothing choice. Here, the use of text messaging has created a happy compromise.

A similar approach has already transformed the airline industry. Previously you chose between polar opposites — you enjoyed free champagne and private lounges and paid a fortune, or else you paid a lower price but flew in a rust bucket. In short-haul flying this bipolarity has long gone — the basic service is fairly constant, but you can pay anything from £20 to £500 for the same journey depending on how inflexible you are on dates and the specific extras you want.

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teledu

February 18th, 2010 4:18pm Report this comment

Rory - what is "pre-book"?
Is this any different from "book"?
If I book a taxi, will someone who has "pre-booked" it get priority?
Why didn't you just write "book"? We understand perfectly well that to book something means doing it in advance, "pre" event, beforehand.

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