Of Paywalls and Cupcakes

It’s the tail end of the day, and I’m just emerging from a long meeting with my boss. It was a good meeting, but I’m tired and ready for a weekend.

And then reception calls. A very puzzled security guy tells me there’s someone down there with some “pastries” for me. Uh, what?

As it happens, this:

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Cupcakes. Cupcakes spelling out 100,000 in fact. And why’s that?

Well, The Times paywall has crossed the 100,000 paying subscribers threshold. And understandably, they’re celebrating. And they appear to be sending people who’ve written about it some cupcakes. Which is nice.

And, yes, this is something to celebrate. I have some issues with The Times approach, and some things I like. I can’t be a paywall-sceptic, because I work for a business that makes money off them. But, in a more positive vein, I am in favour of business model experimentation, and some stuff they’ve done is really quite smart. So, in a spirit of celebration and experimentation, I’m about to stuff my face with a cupcake or two.

If you want more cogent analysis of the news, can I refer you to George Brock?

Nomnomnomnomnom…