Solving the New York Times Pay Wall Problem

I miss the New York Times. A lot. But, since they instituted the pay wall on nytimes.com, my Times fix has been sharply curtailed. For example, right before the paywall started, my monthly usage was at 78 articles a month. I always checked there first for the headlines and would click through some of the more interesting articles. Since the pay wall kicked in, I am down to 7 articles in the last month.

Why is that? Print delivery to my house M-F is $3.70/week, which includes unlimited digital access. But unlimited web access (plus my smart phone--don't even get me started on the difference between a smart phone and a tablet) is $3.75/week. Wait, WHAT?! It is cheaper for me to get delivery to my house, throw away the paper, and read the paper online. This makes NO SENSE. Throw in some crazy rules about a number of free articles a month, but it depends on how you get to the article, and I am thoroughly confused. And I'm a smart person.

And, I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy. This strikes me as a problem for the Gray Lady. No media wants to actively drive away loyal readers.

I feel very similar to how I did in 2000 with regard to music on the internet. I was not opposed to paying for digital music, but at the time, there wasn't a pricing model that made sense. My options were 1) Free through Napster or my college's shared drive or 2) Buy a CD. The music industry had not figured out how to deliver its content to me in the method I wanted it. And then in 2001, iTunes came about and I went from illegally downloading copyrighted music to a law-abiding citizen overnight. $0.99 was the perfect price point, iTunes was easy, and I got my music digitally. Win-win.

I am not opposed to paying for the superior news reporting and opinion making of the Times. In fact, give me a model that makes sense, and I will pull out my credit card now. So, instead of pointing out a problem without giving a solution, let me, an ardent news junkie, lay out what I feel is fair.
First, the digital edition must be cheaper than the print edition. I should be getting some sort of discount for not getting a physical artifact.
Second, there should be a subscription available, but also a when I need it option. And don't charge me by article because I can't peruse the article first to determine if I would like to spend my money on it or not.
Third, it has to be simple. Easy to understand, easy to pay, easy to upgrade. If I have to think more than 5 seconds about how much something is going to cost, you have already lost me as a customer.

So, my proposition for the Times (feel free to use this important people at NYT--you'll get my money!!)
Read the online paper today: For $0.99, you can read all of the NYT online for a 24 hour period.
Subscribe to the online paper: For $10 a month, you can read all of NYT any way you can get the internet.

This pricing is not so different from what the NYT paywall would have me pay anyway. But, there are many fewer rules and it makes sense. At least to me.