"We've been pretty deliberate about saying that the best place you can experience journalism is through a relationship with a news provider. So far for us, that has meant a direct relationship with users. The more we have a relationship with users, the better we think our business will be, and the better the experience that we can provide to them."
Give me a break. Its all about the numbers. And rightly so. Putting it in really simple terms, If the NYT has 50 subscribers and Apple comes to them and says, "We guarantee we will DOUBLE, thats right, double your subscribers if you join us"
Well, the NYT would end up making LESS money then they do now. 50 subscribers @ $15per equals $750
Whereas if they got 100 @ $5........$500. No thanks and again, they are right to say so. Just dont act like you need this close personal relationship with your customers blah blah blah.
NYT wouldn't be getting $5 (50% of $9.99 monthly subscription price).
That 50% gets split between all (300?) publications.