I find this a difficult question to answer. I've always loved magazines but these days (unless I'm flying somewhere) I find so little time to read more than a couple per month. It wouldn't be worth subscribing to a bunch of them individually. So I like the value proposition of being able to pay one monthly fee to peruse a selection of magazines I enjoy.
On the other hand, I want magazines to do well. Journalism is necessary for our democracy. I respect the amount of work that goes into publishing them and recognize their value. I'm actually disheartened by so many commenters here who seem militant in their determination to consume something of value for free. I wonder how magazines can make it with this model.
With that said, being absolved of the burden of having to print and ship a pile of paper to subscribers each month has to be a net positive for magazines, at the same time that I don't think most magazines have really taken advantage of how the technology of, say, the iPad can enhance the experience for their readers. They probably don't have or want to invest the money. As a News+ subscriber I might return to magazines I've not thought about in a while, or I might discover new ones. And I'll be looking at advertising in those magazines, which enhances revenue for those publishers (especially if the ads are coded as such that I can tap an ad and be taken to the advertiser's website).
But what do I do now about magazines like Dwell and New York that I've subscribed to for more than a decade? If I have access to them on News+ it doesn't make much sense for me to be paying for a separate subscription. So that subscription revenue will be downgraded to a smaller stream for them.
I also wonder if the subscription model itself is outdated. I've always hoped that someone could figure out a micro-payment system that would charge readers for what they consume, as opposed to paying for a subscription to publications that I might not even look at certain months. I think newspapers like the NY Times need to exist and I want to support them. But if I only have time to read a couple articles a day I don't feel as though I'm getting my money's worth for a full subscription. You know?
Imagine if gas stations charged us a monthly fee instead by usage by the gallon. A great deal if you drive a lot. But if you only fill up occasionally then you're paying for a lot of value you're not receiving.
