Amazon Stops Selling Print Subscriptions

hank

The announcement seemed to go mostly unnoticed … when Amazon turned off Kindle Newsstand and print magazine subscription orders on March 9. The ability to renew annual Kindle Newsstand or print subscriptions was also removed. Now a banner appears at the top of the Kindle Newsstand page making it clear that subscriptions are gone.

Amazon spokesperson Julia Lee explained the decision: "As part of our annual operating planning review process, we always look at each of our businesses and what we believe we should change ... Following an assessment of our magazine and newspaper subscriptions and single-issue sales, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue these services. We don’t take these decisions lightly and are winding down these offerings in a phased manner over several months. We will continue to support customers, sellers and publishers during that time."
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Ground-shaking. Amazon revolutionized publishing in 2007 with the release of the Kindle e-reader, the first of its type, and at the time began selling print subscriptions formatted for the device. (It sounds like books will still be available for purchase. And there may be limited access to periodicals for subscribers to “Kindle Unlimited”.)

ISTM the dumbing down of America continues. Here was an easy affordable way to sample and enjoy works from a comprehensive platform of top-notch publishers - not only in the U.S. but from literally anywhere in the world. Maybe folks are too consumed by Farcebook & Tweeter today to have any interest in solid periodical literature? While publishers may benefit near-term as former Kindle users migrate to direct subscriptions, I suspect longer term it will hurt them more than it helps.

Amazon stock (AMZ ) is down about 33% over the past year. That’s after a 19.5% rise in 2023. / Andy Jassy - You’re no Jeff Bezos!

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msf

This is is ground-shaking. Amazon revolutionized publishing in 2007 with the release of the Kindle e-reader, the first of its type,

Half correct. Amazon popularized e-Readers, but it wasn't the first. It wasn't even the first of the second generation.

The first generation, prior to e-Ink and cost-effective Wi-Fi, was the Rocketbook, created in 1997 and first sold in 1998. Bezos expressed interest in the company, but insisted on exclusive rights and lost the opportunity then.
https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/the-tale-of-rocketbook-the-very-first-e-reader

Second generation? Think Betamax. Yup, Sony. Amazon may have popularized e-readers, but Sony was first with an e-Ink product in 2006.
https://www.fastcompany.com/1669160/how-the-kindle-stomped-sony-or-why-good-solutions-beat-great-products

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As of March 9, 2023 Amazon is no longer offering magazine and newspaper subscriptions for the Kindle. This includes The New York Times Daily Edition for Kindle. The full Amazon announcement and FAQ are available from the Kindle Newsstand.

https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014889068-Read-The-New-York-Times-on-Kindle

hank

”Half a loaf is better than none at all”. Thanks @msf. Wow. I didn’t know Sony had such a product earlier. Of course, Barnes and Noble tried to compete against Amazon with their own e-reader but finally gave up. Remotely related - ISTM that prior to e-readers, the WP had a service that allowed me to receive its daily pubs over the internet (in my case a land line poky phone connection). But it arrived overnight and was ready to read every morning.

I can’t tell you on how many various Kindle devices I’ve paid their additional fee for to eliminate ads. Possibly a class action suit there? And - does anybody with a Prime subscription really receive orders in the advertised 2-days?

They’re stopping some publications already without notifying readers despite saying they’d continue several more months. But apparently they continue to bill subscribers for those publications. Uhhh!
No Barron’s!

catch22

Perverting the thread........but, meanwhile; Jeff is otherwise occupied.

Yacht sea trials.............

hank

Hi Catch. I’ve nothing against perversions. Sailing’s certainly within bounds. What I would dislike is disparaging remarks about personal lives of well known public figures - including Bezos. As Nick remarks in The Great Gatsby “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments.” I’m afraid some of us wouldn’t appear much better in the public eye if held under a 24-hour magnifying glass.

(Deleted previous). I was able today to cancel Prime. The phone rep was sympathetic to my reasoning. Over $100 refund of the $139 paid in January. As I noted earlier, little, if anything, bought at Amazon arrives in the advertised 2 day delivery time. Typically takes 5-7 days now for most purchases. The link below is about a pending class action lawsuit over that very issue.

https://www.cbs17.com/news/investigators/lawsuit-customers-not-fine-with-amazon-prime-delivery-promises/

Old_Joe

"I’m afraid some of us wouldn’t appear much better in the public eye if held under a 24-hour magnifying glass."

If you picked the wrong 24 minutes I wouldn't look so hot.

hank

Old_Joe said:

"I’m afraid some of us wouldn’t appear much better in the public eye if held under a 24-hour magnifying glass."

If you picked the wrong 24 minutes I wouldn't look so hot.

How did you know I had you in mind? What better testament?

Old_Joe

Just a lucky guess.. a much better guess than buying that SCHW a while back. @Mark was absolutely right.

hank

Hang in there. Financials rebounded Friday. I suspect you made a good move. My 2-cents. I too have a tendency to track investments by the minute and day. In truth, your chances of hitting it exactly right are slim.

Let me expound …. : One reason I avoid mentioning buys and sells here is that it can then play games with your brain and maybe distort your decision making. Sorta like - “Now I have to prove to everybody I made a great decision.”

There is one exception - The guy who always gets it right when he buys something - but posts only a month or two after buying.

BenWP

@hank: I think that fewer and fewer people (at least Americans) are able to read that solid periodical literature that you enjoy so much. According to today’s Times many parents are up in arms because they perceive weak reading instruction that their kids are getting. The cynic in me wonders how much real reading goes on in the homes of these kids whose parents bemoan the poor instruction at school. The Times is probably a stretch for many members of the public.

Our two-year old grandson loves books and to be read to. However, should we grandparents turn on the TV playing a kids’ program, he becomes riveted to the screen and won’t even answer to a shout. To be sure, he has little interest in muted CNBC, which I am guilty of playing in the background on days we do daycare. Ya gotta walk the walk.

sma3

I used to get two or three print papers and take hours to read every article. Reading on line is not the same, although if the website provides you with a "print edition " it is close.

Still I have to ask myself, if I go to the library and grab the Economist, why does it take me an hour to work through it, as opposed to 5 mins with the online version?
Online I look at headlines, no pics and move on.

While the NYT, new Yorker ( remember the three part articles!) and WaPO have all been dumbing down their content, online cannot approach a printed hard copy to capture your attention