"In hindsight, the Times could have and should have been the new distribution system, but they would have had to be nimble to do that, and been willing to accept the feeling of jumping out of a plane with no parachute. They let people in California do that instead because they were willing to deal with insecurity. What a silly reason to cede an empire."

Noteworthy detail: "The partnership agreement, which is structured as a license, has a term of three years."

Interesting move by NYT.

Questions about Apple, New York Times dealings.

"I had never been to a race track before. Except for the Triple Crown, thoroughbred racing had seemed pointless, a small footnote to the day's sports results on the local television news, marginally more interesting than curling or caber tossing. What a difference a day makes! I walked into Belmont Park in Elmont, L.I., a duffer, a lamb waiting to be fleeced, a low roller with a stake of $100 and a dream: to play the ponies and win. I left Belmont -- well, to get the official result, read on." (William Grimes, NYT, 1993)

Bright side: Less competition from the Rail during the Triple Crown season.

Fussy. Fusty. Too concerned with balance. Still valuable.

Makes two pragmatic points: Strategy must be rooted in the premise that journalism is "OF the Internet, not merely ON it," and that no one business model will work for all newspapers, publishers.

See Big Brown (Race Horse), etc. A great example of how to organize and make useful a massive collection of archives.

"Here's the biggest drawback I see in Brill's proposal: it would end blogging, as valuable a journalistic form as has been developed since the inverted pyramid."