Changes to the Internet

Those were the days when the Internet was free. This is just one of the changes that your going to see coming to the Internet. “The New York Times” is going to start charging to access their website. And Rupert Murdock has announced that he’s going to start charging for computer users for online newspaper access.

Murdock, the billionaire media mogul, has never liked the Internet. He says, “It’s a malfunctioning business model.” From his Wall Street journalist perspective, charging for readers to read web content is a pretty obvious solution. Newspapers’ earnings are plunging. Charging a subscription to read online newspapers, is  about boosting the bottom line.

Newspapers not only earn money from subscriptions, but also from advertising. Since advertisers are switching to online advertisements, the newspaper ads are plunging too. What do these changes mean for the millions of people who have their businesses online? Would there sites have increased traffic because access is free?

The idealistic days when information was free and students could access reputable sites for their research papers are slowly fading into the sunset as nostalgia. There are going to be changes to the Internet, but I predict them to be positive.