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Apple changes the rules. Will you win or lose?

Molly Wood Feb 17, 2011
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Apple changes the rules. Will you win or lose?

Molly Wood Feb 17, 2011
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What Apple’s plan boils down to is that if you purchase an iPad version of a newspaper or magazine, Apple gets a 30 percent cut. If you buy more issues while on the iPad or if you choose to subscribe within the app, Apple gets a 30 percent cut.

Content providers can offer their own subscriptions and Apple gets nothing off those BUT there can be no external links within the iPad version to, say, a browser where you can buy it on your own.

Also, the iPad subscription price needs to be the same or lower than the outside price.

The real dust-up here is not the magazines, however; it’s services like Rhapsody or Netflix or Kindle or Spotify or Hulu Plus. Suddenly, they’re faced with either making a lot less money, losing money, or jacking up their rates to accommodate Apple’s demands. It doesn’t take much detective work to realize that Apple has its own competitors to all these services.

Meanwhile, Google has come out with a plan of its own wherein they would take just 10 percent while serving up content on phones, tablets, and computers.

We unpack what this all means to you on the program today. Are you going to see higher prices? Less selection? Are you going to be able to do the things on your phone, tablet and computer that you want to do?

We speak to Molly Wood, executive editor at CNET.com. She lays out exactly how the plan works. We also talk to news industry analyst Ken Doctor about how the real prize for Apple might not be your money but your user data.

Also in this program, Smurfs may be wreaking havoc on your phone. You heard me.

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