There is an internal struggle at the New York Times about the pricing for the their subscription on the iPad. The print division wants to charge somewhere around $20 - $30 a month. The digital division thinks this is crazy and is arguing for a much lower price of about $10.

Part of the problem is that New Yorkers have a skewed view on life. The cost of living there is exorbitant. To them maybe $30 a month seems reasonable. Well, they need to step outside their big apple bubble and realize that to most people that is just too much money to pay. From what I am reading in different online discussion boards and thinking about what I would pay, I have to say that $5 is the right price. Tiered pricing would make the most sense though. Many would pay a little extra for archive access or for the Sunday puzzle. They could charge a la carte for those extras or as monthly add ons. There are all kinds of possibilities. They just are not being very creative in their thinking. They are being driven by fear instead of the excitement of salvation and innovation.

I know that this could not happen for a few years due to their lack of trust and incompetence, but I would like to see subscription packages available in the iPad iTunes section. You pay $30 a month and get 4 monthly subscriptions of your choice. There could be different tiered packages.

There are lots of very creative ways to do this. They just need to get their heads out of their...