"We filled the vacancy the next day"
'Too late' for news providers to charge for online content
It is too late for digital media specialists to expect internet users to pay for online news, according to the news editor of one of the UK's best selling web magazines.
"The horse bolted a long time ago," said Ben Camm-Jones, news editor at Web User, adding that web surfers expect free news content online because they have had this for more than a decade.
"The only publishers who will be able to charge for their news content are the niche titles," he added.
Mr Camm-Jones' comments follow the launch of an iPhone app for the Guardian which was announced by mobile enabling technology provider 2ergo last week.
The app costs £2.39 and allows users to view all recent guardian.co.uk content via their iPhone browser.
However, Bill Thompson, writing for the BBC News website, said that the Guardian should already be making plans to get app users to pay for extra content.
Mr Thompson, a contributor to the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet, claimed that people may stop regularly buying the Guardian as a result of the app.
Posted by Will Turner
"The horse bolted a long time ago," said Ben Camm-Jones, news editor at Web User, adding that web surfers expect free news content online because they have had this for more than a decade.
"The only publishers who will be able to charge for their news content are the niche titles," he added.
Mr Camm-Jones' comments follow the launch of an iPhone app for the Guardian which was announced by mobile enabling technology provider 2ergo last week.
The app costs £2.39 and allows users to view all recent guardian.co.uk content via their iPhone browser.
However, Bill Thompson, writing for the BBC News website, said that the Guardian should already be making plans to get app users to pay for extra content.
Mr Thompson, a contributor to the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet, claimed that people may stop regularly buying the Guardian as a result of the app.
Posted by Will Turner
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