You can get the product for alomst 50% off and get the benefit of having the option to using the Newsstand Electronic Edition of the NY Times as well.

From the NY Times FAQs the NY Times Electronic Edition qualifies one for a free access to Times Select. According to the announcement that the Times Reader was exiting beta ( http://firstlook.nytimes.com/?p=34 ) it is stated that Electronic Edition subscribers also get access to NY Times Reader.

Current Pricing for the NY Times Electronic Edition are:
Monday – Friday
FREE 7-DAY TRIAL and continue for just $9.99 per month
FREE 7-DAY TRIAL and continue for one year. $84.99

Therefore you can purchase full access to the NY Times Reader (and content including Times Select) for $80 less for an annual subscription.

I get the Wall St Journal online with my paper subscription. The Times reader is nice, for sure, but not “must have”. For me, part of the problem with online newspapers is that I get busy and forget to read them. At least when there’s a stack of newsprint on my desk, I eventually will at least flip through them before I throw them in the recycling bin. It’s a guilt thing! I’ve tried setting WSJ Online as my home page just so I absorb a headline or two every time I launch my browser.

I’ll just keep getting the free email daily, as long as it’s available, that is. I rarely read it, anyway.

Well, it’s like any news paper. You have to subscribe to it to get the full content. Being subscribed to a daily newspaper is part of my life habitus anyway and that of many others. The beauty is still there: the reader provides a much better experience for the mobile. I have tried NewsStand and quite frankly, it’s horrible. The NewsStand reader is cumbersome and does not even begin to tap in the possibilities a tablet can offer. More intuitive and interactive interfaces are our near future and the new Times reader is providing the most elegant solution for now. The fee is what we have to expect to read a big and established newspaper. Then again, paying to read the Times is what many generations have done anyway. Only now, we have a solution and a tool that screams INFORMATIONAL AGE!

I am a little disappointed with the pricing. Honestly, I don’t mind paying for it; its a nice interface and I enjoy it much better than their website. However, I don’t know why I would pay for this service when I can (and do) subscribe to the electronic version for about the same (and right now lower!) price, while enjoying the traditional layout of a newspaper. The pricing should be lower. While I am pleased to financially support the country’s newspapers, I don’t understand why the NY Times now has **two** fee-based electronic options– NewsStand and The Times Reader at about the same price.

As a free curiosity it was worth poking with a sharp stick every so often. At $15 a month my curiosity, and sharp stick, are moving on.

Yep, it’s too rich for my blood. When the beta ends, I’ll end up quitting; I frankly can’t justify spending $165USD (~$190CAD) on a newspaper I read as a secondary source… especially since the bulk of the content seems to be available gratis on their web site. This move by the Times is very short sighted, in my opinion.

— Steve