Some of you will think me madder than a duck’s udder, but I’m happily paying £9.99 every four weeks for The Times’ new iPad app. I think it’s brilliant. Instead of sifting through a homepage of content that buries old stories as it’s refreshed throughout the day, you download a separate digital edition of the paper every morning then browse at your own pace. The format is fresh, the interface well thought out, and the content thoroughly enjoyable.
How wonderful it is to feel that you’ve finished the news again. How glorious to read the morning paper from cover to cover once more. No more whack-a-moling your way through ever-changing online layouts in the hope of a hit. No more returning an hour later in case Boris Johnson’s invaded Belgium on a giant inflatable goat and displaced the leading story, resetting the game and giving your morning meaning once more. No. Now you can read to the final page and then get on with your day, because there’s not going to be any more news until tomorrow. And I think that’s a good thing.
