USA Today Laments Free iPhone App

Everyone knows the print newspaper is dying, well everyone but the publishers it seems. But, USA today, the plucky, colorful if not slightly lacking in depth, national newspaper is not giving up.

Plans are in the works to introduce a pay digital version in August. This digital edition would be emailed daily to subscribers for $10 per month, dropping the price from the existing $13.95 per month and introducing new features. That's right, emailed. Perhaps to get those subscribers still uncomfortable with a computer, but comfortable enough to work email?

USA today already offers a free iPhone (and Android) app that's very clean and quite usable. The new publisher of the Gannett-owned title, David Hunke, said he regrets not charging for the app."I'm not sure we realized what we had," Hunke said. "I think that's a value readers will be willing to pay for."

And there in lies the rub. If readers were willing to pay for services like it, they probably already would. iPhone users routinely balk at applications for $5.99 and even $.99.  It probably would have been hard for USA Today to charge anything given that the New York Times, LA Times, even the Wall Street Journal, the paper Hunke said they would be going after for readership in hotels, all offer their apps for free.

For info on the design of the USA Today app,read an excerpt from an interview in Communication Art's Interactive Annual 15 with Rusty Mitchell, the creative director/interface designer.

Via Yahoo! Finance