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Those apps were a bit on the 'meh' side of the app equation, being little more than PDF versions of their existing paper publications.
Now comes news, unsurprisingly from Fairfax Media itself, that 'new' versions of the two apps in question are to arrive from tomorrow onwards, and in a special promotional deal with sponsoring advertiser Telstra, will be free for the first six months.
After that, you can expect to pay AUD $8.99 per month, although whether the 'added' content that will supposedly aim to be somehow different from what is already available free of charge at both papers' websites (accessible freely via the iPad's Safari browser) will be worth $9 bucks a month is yet to be truly determined.
Of course, that hasn't stopped Fairfax Media from coming out all guns blazing to declare a new 'bespoke' format for presenting its journalism, nor from declaring an all-encompassing 'catalyst for change in the economics of news', as the Fairfax article linked above described it.
I mean, Rupert Murdoch's 'The Daily' hasn't exactly revolutionised publishing and newspapers as we know them, so it does take a giant leap of faith to expect a company with an ideology opposite to that of the ultra-capitalist Mr Murdoch to fare much better.
That said, it is still a free world, despite the attempts of progressives to unfree the world, so for now at least, the Smage has as much chance as The Daily of getting a loyal audience, although at least The Daily aims itself at a worldwide audience, and not merely the population of Australia.
So, what is Fairfax promising for its new apps, and what kind of spray does Fairfax give to rival publishing houses who were much quicker off the mark with their iPad apps?
Please read on to page two!
