Rumor has it that Apple has been shopping around the idea of a $30/month subscription TV service to various television networks.  But instead of offering up the service on the Apple TV (as was previously speculated) Apple is reportedly implanting the service into the massive iTunes ecosystem.

But Apple could be taking this one step further.

Just recently Apple released a brand new 27” iMac with a massive 2,560 x 1,440 pixel 16:10 screen and 1 TB of storage.  All the iMac needs is a highly anticipated integrated Blu-ray player and the all-in-one behemoth could compete with flat-panel televisions with this proposed TV subscription model.

Some have speculated that Apple could start producing their own TV’s, but this subscription service puts them in the position to gradually mold their iMacs into the TVs of tomorrow.

The company, which includes other properties like the Boston Globe and About.com, opened a full dollar higher than where it closed yesterday and increased steadily all day to $10.72 a share for a 22.5% growth.

In a letter to employees, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger stated that the company is “moving in the right direction” thanks to employee comittment.

“Ultimately, it is your extraordinary dedication that is allowing us to achieve the results that we have reported today … and it is this same dedication that will enable us to achieve our long-term goals and aspirations.” – Arthur Sulzberger

But in reality the answer is simpler than putting the proverbial nose to the grindstone as Sulzberger claims.

Earlier this week, the New York Times announced they would be cutting 100 newsroom positions before the end of year.  With increasing subscription costs and re-negotiation of severance pay, these cuts are just the latest in the company’s efforts to lower costs.

It worked.

Sulzberger even concedes this point, saying, “while actual circulation volume has declined, our circulation revenue increased 6.7 percent due to price increases” but qualifies that statement by adding, “clearly, the demand for our quality journalism in print remains substantial.”

But is this really “the right direction” as Sulzberger contends? Is it truly healthy for the New York Times Company to keep its head above water with budget cuts, price increases and layoffs?  Obviously this can’t continue forever, and the company will need to improve upon its floundering advertising revenues to remain in business.

Sulzberger believes things are turning around on the advertising front.

“Early in the fourth quarter, print advertising trends have improved modestly compared to the third-quarter, while digital advertising trends are improving more significantly.” – Arthur Sulzberger

We all know the day the New York Times folds is the day pigs fly, hell freezes over and we all eat our hats, but for the company to continue to be a dominant force in the news industry they will have to recover from the advertising lull so they can continue to innovate and push newspapers in a new direction.

One feature, which allows users to purchase items from within an application, caught my eye more than the others.  For those unfamiliar with the iPhone, Apple allows iPhone users to purchase applications made by third party developers through the App Store.

Since the conception of the App Store, the interaction between developers and their customers ended once an app was purchased and installed. With iPhone 3.0, developers will be able to sell additional content from within their applications, increasing their potential revenues and encouraging them to upgrade their applications.

Apple used game developers as an example of one community which could potentially benefit from this feature.  A game developer could sell their product in the App Store, but offer additional levels or features to be purchased from within the game.  Ben Parr of Mashable wrote an excellent article today about the importance of this feature to the mobile economy (read it here).  The possibilities are, quite literally, endless.

As a grad student working on my masters in journalism, the current crisis facing newspapers is a topic that is constantly crossing my mind.  For years, newspapers survived heavily on advertisements and classified ads for their revenues, and subscriptions played a much smaller role.  But with the introduction of free online services like Craigslist, the well of cash which classifieds brought to newspapers has all but dried up. Additionally, advertisers are putting more of their money in cheaper, more focused online ads forcing newspapers to brainstorm ideas for paid subscriptions services.

The newspaper industry did little to prepare itself for the oncoming storm of the Internet, and instead chose to ignore the problem.  Now, with revenues plummeting, some are grasping at straws to find ways to survive, while others are either closing their doors (as in the case of Denver’s Rocky Mountain News) or switching to an online-only publication (take for instance the Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

Most newspapers have some sort of online companion to their printed editions, but the majority of their revenues still come from the printed edition.  The problem is, the cost of printing a newspaper is far more expensive than maintaining a website, but until the newspapers can discover how to transfer their revenue from print to online, they are stuck in their downward spiral.

In a recent episode of the MacBreak Weekly podcast, Andy Ihnatko stated that the only way for the newspaper industry to survive on the web was to abandon the web because the web will always and forever be free.  Instead he suggested that newspapers concentrate their digital monetization efforts to mobile devices such as the iPhone and Amazon’s Kindle.

Newspapers have already missed the web wave, and to jump on now is impossible.  As Ihnatko pointed, the web inherently wants to be free, and newspaper survival on the web would seek to break this law.  Besides, why pay to access the New York Times website when there are thousands of other free credible news sources and aggregators?

Instead, newspapers need to see that another wave is coming, and they can choose now to jump on before it overtakes them.  The wave is mobile devices, and with the new iPhone 3.0 in-app purchasing feature, there are now countless possibilities for newspapers to get on-board.

Hypothetically, a newspaper like the New York Times could sell an application for the iPhone which accessed their top stories at a low price of, say, $2.99 (about half the price of a week of print subscription).  Where the Times could turn a profit is offering subscriptions from within the application.  Perhaps a user could subscribe to different sections of the paper, like Politics or Sports for an additional $.99 a month which they could be prompted to renew.  Or the Times could even offer personalized news feeds based on keywords or a user’s interests and browsing habits.  Exclusive content made specifically for the iPhone could also be sold at a premium, and prices could be placed on viewing an entire story versus the first couple paragraphs.

As the nation’s mobile infrastructure expands, the number of people with the need to access the news on their mobile devices will continue to grow.  In 2005, 40% of mobile users in Japan (over 100 million people) used their devices to access news and information services.  This number grew to 52% in 2007, and I would venture a guess to say that nearly two-thirds, if not more, are getting news on their phones today.

The possibilities are out there, and newspapers need to be talking not only with companies like Apple and Amazon to learn how they could profit from their devices, but they also need to be communicating with each other.  Additionally, I think newspapers should be getting the word out to the public about their woes, instead of calling out for help when it is too late.  One day we could wake up and our most beloved papers could be gone, and many may not even know why.

The New York Times is doing a great deal to draw in the internet audience to nytimes.com and this map mashup is terrific.  They tracked Super Bowl related words by Twitter users and mapped them based on location word cloud style.  You can browse different sets of words, as well as view the timeline of how they changed throughout the game.

Above is a shot of the “player names” tweet group, so as more people in a specific region Tweeted about a specific player name, the size of the name grows.  This shot is from just after Larry Fitzgerald scored his second touchdown, giving Arizona a temporary three point lead in the fourth quarter.

This is really well done, but in the end, its just another “cool trick” to bring people to a site.  This really serves no purpose as far as newsworthiness.  There are still millions of people out there that don’t know or care about Twitter.  That being said, I think it is really cool to play around with for a while, but in the end what is it accomplishing?

This is a great interactive panoramic image of the Obama Inauguration.  You can see all the way from the grandstands behind the stage to the crowd stretching down the National Mall.  I hadn’t noticed the giant rig for the TV cameras that can be seen amidst the crowd.  Also it is fascinating to the see the various telephoto lenses poking out from the bottom left of the image from what must be press row.

This is a Wordle word cloud created using the full texts from four of Obama’s most well known and most historic speeches.  These include his 2004 Democratic Convention keynote (when I realize the guy would be the next President), his 2008 DNC nomination acceptance speech, his election acceptance speech, and this week’s equally historic inauguration speech.  Pretty fascinating stuff.

Satellites captured this amazing image of the Nation Mall during Obama’s historic moment, showing the enormous crowd in front of the Capitol.

CNN’s iReport created a Photosynth of photos submitted by people viewing the inauguration.

And using Wordle, we can get a word cloud of Obama’s speech.

As Obama takes the office of the President today, he brings with him a new awareness of technology, the Internet and Web 2.0. So what better way to christen this new era than with a brand new WhiteHouse.gov? Obama is like President 2.0.

10:54 – Obama is now escorting Bush onto a Marine helicopter for their dashing escape from Washington!

10:43 – Still to come: Obama’s farewell to Bush as he leaves.  Also, the parade!

10:39 – A choir sings the “Star Spangled Banner” and that’s about it.

10:38 – “… when the black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, the red man can get ahead man, and the white will do what’s right.” – Joseph E. Lowry.

10:31 – Everyone is starting to leave trying to “beat the crowd” even though a poem was just read.  Joseph E. Lowry is up at the podium now to deliver the benediction.  If you listen carefully you can actually hear people changing the channel across the world.

10:26 – Twenty minutes later, Obama is done, the crowd applauds, and now millions of people try to leave D.C. at the same time.

10:20 – Obama is still talking, and the speech is moving as usual.  Live shots of cities across the nation pop up momentarily on CNN.  A shot of Bush makes me wonder if he got senioritis these last few weeks.

10:09 – Obama is now speaking to the crowd.  How many of his speeches will begin with “I stand here today”?  I think he’s said that at every major speech.  Is he going to take every opportunity, like this one, to remind us how bad our situation is and how he promises to fix it?

10:04 – Everyone stands as John G. Roberts is set to begin the Presidential Oath of Office for Obama.  Obama is now the President.  A few slip-ups in the speech but NO ONE CARES.  Marine Band now playing “Hail to the Chief” for Obama for the very first time.

9:59 – In one minute, Obama is offically (constitutionally) President.  But right now a John Williams arrangement of “Air and Simple Gifts” performed by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill and Gabriela Montero.  This is a pleasent suprise as the clock strikes noon in D.C..

9:57 – VP Elect Joe Biden is now being sworn in on the Lincoln Bible.  That thing is huge.

9:53 – Great prayer by Rick Warren, now Aretha Franklin to sing “My Country Tis of Thee”.

9:49 – Rick Warren has silenced the crowd for the opening prayer.  Seeing millions of people with their heads bowed is pretty impressive.

9:45 – Diane Feinstein is now speaking, introducing the inauguration.

9:44 – Obama now taking the stage to thunderous applause and cheers from the massive crowd filling D.C. to the brim.  This is truly a impressive showing of people.  And a truly historical event.

9:43 – Joe Biden is out now, I think he just said “I made it!”.  Now a few more elites and Obama should be next!

9:38 – The band sounds pretty good for 30 degree weather.  As a drummer I know how tough a snare drum roll is in freezing temperatures.

9:36 – The Marine Band plays “Hail to the Chief” for President Bush for the last time as he is introduced alongside a few other elites.  The crowd is getting restless for Obama.

9:32 – More Washington elites walking down the steps and onto the stage at the Capitol.  Michelle Obama is there now.

9:28 – More introduction of VIP’s and various wives.  CNN just noted that even if the inauguration runs behind schedule, at noon EST (in 30 minutes), Obama becomes President officially Constitutionally.

9:25 – Obama’s daughters and their grandmother (Michelle’s mother) now entering.  The crowd loves those kids.  And now Aretha Franklin is there (First Lady of Soul), she will be singing “My Country Tis of Thee” later.

9:23 – President and Mrs. Clinton now entering the stage.  Hillary Clinton’s confirmation for Sec. of State has been held off for a day for the inauguration.

9:20 – President and Mrs. Carter and now President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush are now being introduced.  The Marine Corps Band is playing various peppy tunes for each.

9:19 – VIP’s and former Presidents are being introduced at the Capitol.  CNN announced a moment ago that they would have a live satellite view of the Washington D.C. mall in a few moments.

5:26 – Thanks for reading along, and thanks to Evan Wyloge for the pictures.  Look for more on this event later, including more pictures.

5:25 – Aaron says how much of an honor it has been to have them here, and with that the event ends with a thunderous applause.  Only one question thought, which is a little dissapointing, but for the most part very entertaining.  

5:22 – Woodruff says there are places for broadcasters to do good in-depth stories.  ”So take a pay cut and do more stories.  Or get hit in the head.”  It’s good to see that he is lighthearted about his Iraq injury.

5:19 – Lehrer says that a lot of what is being done on broadcast today is not really “investigative” or “in-depth”.  ”We have to get control of our own labels.”

5:15 – Brown says “We’re almost done…” It seems the questions are coming.  First question: “Do you believe that broadcast is now where the highest quality reporting will come from in the future?”  Lehrer jumps on the question… he’s talking about the major investigative pieces of the past, Watergate, Walter Reed, and how Walter Cronkite wasn’t doing investigative reporting, just a pull-together.  

5:10 – Bob Woodruff mentions how the longest he’s ever gotten on a signle story was six minuntes.  He says that is rare to get that much, you hardly ever get more than three or four.

5:07 – MacNeil: “I think the coverage of OJ Simpson was a milestone in this field…” He mentions that this was when the news channels decided they could get the most ratings by going 24-hours on one single big story.  And the networks were too afraid to.

5:03 – Lehrer: “It’s not just three or four white men making all the decisions.” Brown: “Don’t I know it!” Lehrer: “We just saw the biggest outpouring of interest in an election ever!”

4:59 – Aaron Brown just let the audience know that we can ask questions now if we have them.  MacNeil just proposed a theory that as commercials went from minute long features, to fifteen second quick hits, news programs fealt threatened that commercials would be more engaging, so they had to speed up also.

4:55 – Woodruff is bringing up how its too exspensive to do the real good investigative in-depth stories.  He tells an anecdote about how once he heard that two reporters wanted to go to Africa to do the same story, and the executive said “both of you go and we’ll see which is better.”  He says that you would never see that today.

4:50 – MacNeil says 60 Minutes is a very well put together show, and it is like a bastion of the old broadcast “golden age” (my words).  ”I think it is a very successful conception and continues to be true to its conception.”

4:46 – Woodruff is now talking about how in the old days, you had to get inside “the gate” to report the news.  Now with the internet, theres people reporting from inside and outside the gate.  He says now its hard to find the gates.  Brown: “If the lines were clear… I’m fine with that.  The biggest audience that ABC News will do this week will happen tonight when Diane interviews Ashley Dupree, a prostitute who slept with Elliot Spitzer.  News?  Or Entertainment?”  MacNeil: “Investigative reporting.”

4:43 – It’s clear these legends feel like “dinosaurs” to use their term.  As Lehrer spoke of Jennifer Flowers, MacNeil remined him to tell the audience who that was, to which Brown added “She was Monica Lewinsky before there was a Monica Lewinsky.”  The crowd just laughs… 

4:41 – Lehrer is talking about how he tried to stay away from the less newsworthy news.  Jennifer Flowers, OJ Simpson, etc…  ”Lou Dobbs has gotta be called for what he is, he’s a TV personality.”

4:38 – Now we’re talking internet.  Just as Aaron mentions that he loves how his iPhone has the “collective knowledge of the human race,” his phone rings.  ”Man!  Right on cue!”  Staged?

4:34 – MacNeil is talking about how not long ago, the Republicans charged the Democrats with treason.  He mentioned how lately we have heard the argument that people who don’t agree with the presidency are “less American.”  ”Republicans use this issue, Democrats too.”  

4:30 – Brown: “Recently on NPR they did a story about the Holocaust… and they felt they needed to also talk to a Holocaust denier.  Why??  Thats like arguing that in Arizona in the summer it’s not hot.  IT IS HOT!”

4:27 – Lehrer: “When my picture comes up, I want a super underneath that says ‘journalist’, when Bill O’Reilly’s name comes up a super should come up that says ‘not a journalist’.”  Interesting point about opinion news vs “actual news”.

4:24 – Brown: “There is no shortage of opinion, there is a shortage of fact… all of the growth in the news business has been on the opinion side.  Even CNN, which does less of it, their biggest growth has been in audience. ”  He is trying to understand how that came to be.

4:21 – Lehrer and MacNeil.

4:18 – MacNeil: “I would like to know from the people in this room whether or not I am an old mastadon.”  MacNeil is takling about how he gets his news.  ”How many people in this audience… are getting the headlines hour by hour, minute by minute.”  About two thirds do, one third doesn’t.  MacNeil: “Oh my god.”  He feels old because he checks the news in the morning, and then forgets about it.

4:14 – Lehrer: “I can explain this…”  He says that it used to be that all news was, was headlines.  Now it seems things are changing, and now if you missed the headline its the not the end of the world.  Brown: “Thats a 25 year old argument in a sense.”  Brown is now talking about how CNN started the first 24 hour news network.  He says things haven’t changed a whole lot since then.

4:10 – MacNeil is throwing his two cents in about news in the “great decate of broadcast” : “The reality is where is it going? If you confine it to the network news, the audience seems to be eroding.”  

4:07 - Woodruff kicks things off by talking about how he got into journalism.  He started teaching law in Beijing, where he translated for CBS.  He realized over there that he needed to be a journalist.  

4:05 – A little bit late, but we are okay.  Aaron is warming up the crowd with his humor.  ”This is gonna be fun, so don’t fret, no one is gonna quiz you on it.”

3:58 – The place is starting to fill up, Aaron Brown is here and sitting in his chair awaiting the arrival of the three guests.  The crew is setting up chairs, but it is likely that this place will be standing-room-only pretty soon.