People Breaks Ranks, Makes Its iPad App Free to Subscribers. Duh

Congratulations to People's iPad app for boldly going where no Time Inc. iPad app has gone before: by making the app free to current subscribers of the weekly print magazine. In so doing, it is acknowledging that old-time, analog relationships count -- and also showing the way for Time and Sports Illustrated, whose iPad apps are already way too expensive.

To make this happen, People had to do a work-around since right now Apple hasn't yet opened the door to subscription iPad apps. (How strange is it that Apple and the magazine industry have been so excited about their union so far?) Instead, current subscribers will go through a verification process to download each weekly issue, which are currently priced at $3.99 -- the same as newsstand.

With no verification process available to Time and SI subscribers, the price per magazine means that if a current subscriber were to download issues for a year, it would mean an overall cost of more than $200. That's quite a slap in the face to loyal customers.

People's decision, though, isn't just about Time Inc. All magazine iPad apps are going to have to figure out how to value their current subscribers in the iPad universe. It's a new platform, but the iPad isn't just about new relationships; it's about extending old ones in new ways.

Related:

• Note to Magazine Industry: Your iPad Apps Are Too Expensive
• Flipboard: More Proof That Magazines Are the iPad's Killer App
• iPad Paid Media Apps: Still Not Hot, But Maybe That's Good
• iPad/Paid Media Love Affair? Not At These Prices
• Apple's iPad a Print Savior? Three Reasons Why It's Not Even Close
• Sports Illustrated's Digital Magazine: A Beautiful Package That Few Will Buy