When was the last time you saw a trader using a web browser? I ask because there seems to be some worry that if WSJ.com goes free, that might mean fewer people subscribing to Dow Jones Newswires. I also believe that a reason FT.com hasn't gone free is that the FT sells its own content to people using Reuters or Bloomberg screens, for the same price as a web subscription, and they fear that if the website is free then no one will pay for the same content on a screen.
I don't buy it. It's true that the web is now a much more sophisticated news delivery mechanism than it used to be, and is in many ways superior to the old clunky techology driving screen-based systems. But there's no real way for a website to "push" content yet (despite that famous Wired cover story now being over 10 years old)...MORE
