Like many of you, I got an email from Lincoln a few days ago, giving me a free web subscription to NYT for the rest of the year.
So imagine my surprise when this morning, as I was reading the Times website, I got another offer for a free web subscription. I decided to click on it to see what would happen. I was prompted for my password and when I entered it I was brought to the page below.
Redshirt
The Right hand hates the Left hand and doesn’t really care what it’s doing. And sometimes vice versa.
cmorenc
DougJ:
Well, this proves that you are a complimentary man worth being given many complements. Which would you rather get from the NYT, two complementary subscriptions, or their warmest regards?
cleek
turns out, the new business model is : keep the customer guessing !
Valdivia
So I have access still. What part is supposed to be behind a paywall? I have my edu/email related account and have unlimited access still without doing anything. hmmm.
Comrade DougJ
@Valdivia:
The paywall goes into effect on March 28, I think.
arguingwithsignposts
@Comrade DougJ: unless you’re in Canada.
MikeTheZ
@Valdivia: March 28 is when it goes into effect.
Valdivia
@Comrade DougJ:
thanks. shows how clueless I am. Last time they had some sort of paywall for Opeds the edu domain was not affected. Let’s see if I get an email about skipping this.
JGabriel
If you want to confirm that your complimentary NYT account has been activated, log in to your account, then click on your userid in the upper right corner of the NY Times home page (or any Times page, really).
In the middle of the profile, there should be a section called “My Subscriptions”. If your complimentary account is properly activiated, it should read “NY Times: Web + Smartphone App”.
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New Yorker
OK, so this isn’t some sort of scam? I got the same thing in my inbox and was apprehensive about clicking it, especially since I’m a 31-year-old liberal urbanite, i.e. not exactly Lincoln’s target demographic.
Violet
@New Yorker:
Was wondering the same thing. Is it real? Or a scam?
The Moar You Know
Given the record of the New York Times and its decidedly pro-corporatist/pro-conservative stance, I think I’ll give even the freebie a pass. Save for Krugman, there’s really nothing there worth reading.
JGabriel
@New Yorker: Nope, not a scam. The sign-up process can be buggy though, and you have to sign up by the 27th. Here are some instructions I wrote up to walk people through the sign-up if you run into the bugs.
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JGabriel
@Violet:
Again, not a scam. Here’s an article about it from Crain’s.
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Violet
@JGabriel:
Thanks! Should I feel left out that I didn’t get an invitation for a free subscription? Not that they seem to work all that well…
dr. bloor
Something similar happened to me when I tried to get past the pay wall during their last revenue-generation-turned-goatfuck experiment. I subscribe to the dead-tree, and the bumblefucks in support there never could get me to the online stuff.
I can’t wait for Krugman to leave so mrs. dr. bloor can get her news from BBC and Al Jazeera like the rest of the civilized world.
PurpleGirl
I registered for NY Times daily headlines many years ago — with my Juno email account. I haven’t used Juno for current mail in ages. So I checked Juno this morning and there was the email for the free access from Lincoln. Of course, I’m going to registered for it.
HyperIon
@Valdivia wrote:
I read the instructions JGabriel posted yesterday and tried logging in/out but nothing happened, that is, no offer appeared. But this morning i got an email and clicked on the button and everything worked as advertised. Thank you, NYT.
Maybe by the end of the year I’ll be able to convince myself to fork over money. Or maybe I’ll just control my clicking and stay under the 20 or so “free” clicks per month. Which I haven’t seen anybody mention.
JGabriel
@Violet: Make sure your current e-mail is listed in your Times account profile. Then log out and back in, like it says in this Crain’s article. You should get an invite the next morning.
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evap
While reading online this morning, I got a pop-up telling me I had free access for the rest of the year. I just had to click on a link and then enter my nytimes.com password. Funny thing is, I was planning to start paying, for all of the reasons John mentions above. Now I won’t have to!