It only took two days, but News Corp.’s The Daily has made it from the iPad to the internet, for free. Thank Andy Baio, the man behind The Daily: Indexed, a Tumblr linking to each story’s home on the web. He explained the origins behind the site over on his personal blog:
The Daily’s publishing free, web-based versions to every article, but without an index, it’s very inconvenient to find or link to individual articles from the web. And since the iPad app appears to only carry today’s edition, it makes finding any historical articles you’ve paid for nearly impossible.
But is the online Daily experience the whole story? Not according to Greg Clayman, The Daily’s publisher, who told the New York Times:
It’s not surprising that people want to share our content, but The Daily is designed for tablets, with a lot of rich media and a litany of interactive features and functionality. We are confident that as readers get to know our content, they will be driven to the full, authentic experience.
Also, as PaidContent points out, not everything is on the internet, anyway: Sports and gossip sections aren’t entirely available, and most importantly, the experience – or, as PC calls it, the “impact” – of the iPad version is completely missing. What Baio has created is worthwhile for those who want to keep track of material from previous editions, or who don’t have iPads, but Indexed is no replacement for the real thing – yet, at least.
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