Enjoying a coffee at a motoway service centre the other day, I found myself staring at a nearby WH Smith news-stand. I got to reflecting on how much I've saved since I started getting my news free from the Internet. If I take into account all the Mac and other technical monthlies I used to load into the cart, I reckon I am a good £1,000 a year better off.
Enter Rupert Murdoch. As from June he wants to charge me £1 a day to access The Times and The Sunday Times web sites: a sum not unadjacent to the cost of buying the newspaper.
I have a free message for Times International: Goodbye!
Even if all the major newspapers start charging for web access there will still be hundreds if not thousands of free sites out there.
This all reminds me of the ancient King Cnut who sat on his throne on an English beach and commanded the tide not to advance and wet his feet. When his feet did get wet he is reported to have leapt backwards and said "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings". He was a wise man.
Blog posted here.