Peter Merholz on the NYT paywall and pricing structure in general:
If you look at the companies that offer the most confusing pricing plans (telcos, health insurance providers, most major airlines), they are also the companies that deliver the poorest customer experience. This is not a coincidence. These are companies whose success is built on little competition, and who know they can squeeze money out of their captive audiences.
That is so very true. To get an even better perspective on just how terrible the NYT’s pricing plan is read the second paragraph in this article — if you don’t clearly remember and understand how the pricing plan works, then guess what: it’s a bad pricing plan.