US: Minneapolis Star-Tribune latest to offer Kindle edition

Posted by Liz Webber on July 8, 2009 at 4:40 PM

Joining the likes of USA Today and the Financial Times, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune becomes the latest newspaper to offer a special edition for Amazon's Kindle device. The e-reader version, like that for other publications that produce content for Kindle, will be in black-and-white and lack certain images and graphics.

The Star-Tribune's Kindle service will cost $10 per month, putting it on par with the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. The New York Times charges $13.99 per month and the Times of London $14.99 per month.

In comparison to its print edition, which costs $220 for a year-long subscription at full price, the Star-Tribune Kindle edition adds up to $120 a year. The newspaper also already produces an online "eEdition" featuring the paper's layout in web form, for which it charges $114 per year. Access to the Star-Tribune's website via a computer or mobile device is free.

The $359 sticker price ($489 for the Kindle DX) is just one argument against the e-reader for newspapers. Others find it a helpful supplement to existing print and online versions. With so many other ways to read the Star-Tribune, some of which are free, there's no telling how many readers will switch to Kindle or add it to their existing newspaper routine.

Source: Editor & Publisher