Britannica feels the heat, wants to come in from the cold
Britannica apparently is ready to “be part of the conversation.” About time. It gets lonely back there behind those subscription walls, I’d bet. Britannica announced today that it is going to lower the walls just a little bit — better than nothing! Bloggers and other qualifying Web writers can have complimentary subscriptions that allow them to rummage around in there and then link to Britannica articles when they find ones that relate to their content. And those who follow the links will in fact get inside the walls for that particular article. I sure hope they aren’t thinking that this will increase subscriptions. Pobrecitos. Those of us inside the great world wide web are hoping that the little foray will increase your confidence that there’s got to be a better way to make your living than making it hard for people to find you in amongst all this great free stuff. Well, baby steps, right?
I decided to try it out so I registered for one of the free subscriptions. They’ll get back to me with an answer (you’re still making it hard for me — not very smart), after they determine that I qualify. Wow. I am not so sure they get it as much as I’m giving them credit for getting it. I especially liked the way their announcement tries not to sound too desperate. Surely they know. Well, there’s that silly registration. The one article thing. I am just not sure. Ok, we’ll watch and see where they go. And I’ll keep you posted on whether I qualify for the privilege of promoting their stuff for them.
