經濟學人要收錢了！

最近收到了經濟學人寄來的通知....
內容如下

Dear Reader,

I'd like to inform you about important changes at Economist.com.

Beginning October 13th, we will be limiting access to certain sections of our site to subscribers only. Over the past few years, Economist.com has become a hub for intelligent discussion, with news commentary, blogs and an award-winning debate series. We will continue to encourage both subscribers and non-subscribers to participate in those conversations. We will also enhance the experience we offer our most loyal readers by expanding our subscribers-only features.

Currently, all content published within the last year is free of charge. Soon, this access will be limited to articles published within the last 90 days. The print edition contents page, which offers a convenient way to browse articles and features from the latest issue of The Economist, will also be limited to subscribers only.

Through these complementary aspects of Economist.com, we will continue to foster intelligent discussion and debate, while enhancing the value we bring to our community of subscribers.

I hope you'll continue to visit the site and enjoy all it has to offer.

就是說，現在網站上免費提供的當期最新文章，之後必須要付費閱讀了。正當我們的英文讀書會準備開始之際，少了這個重要的文章來源真麻煩。

持續閱讀經濟學人一兩年了，印象中，以前的經濟學人也是要收費的。那個時候，政大圖書館有訂閱經濟學人，透過圖書館帳號密碼即可搜尋他的資料庫以及閱覽所有的文章。後來可能是改變策略，便開放最新文章在網站上供我們免費閱覽。當兵的時候，為了打發時間每週都印了好幾篇文章回去啃，啃久了英文好像也進步不少。

讀經濟學人的好處在於，他的文章有「資訊」同時也有「觀點」。每週數篇的Leaders就是當下國際間的重要議題，篇幅適中，若沒有太多時間大概就是讀這幾篇，另外再找當期其他幾篇有興趣的主題。

我覺得讀者其實都有點懶，希望有一個值得信賴的守門人，幫你過濾大量訊息並選出幾則比較重要的文章來閱讀。如果能做到這點，即使收費也是合情合理。覺得現在媒體服務已經不缺訊息，而是要朝向提昇訊息的附加價值，如完善的編輯、過濾新聞，這樣我們才會願意掏出錢來買你的服務。


但經濟學人要收錢了還是讓我很傷心。