Newspapers going mobile, but the value is the information received, not the content delivered

MediaPost Publications Verve To Power Newspaper Mobile Sites 06/25/2009:
"Mobile developer Verve Wireless Thursday announced agreements with newspaper publishers including Media News Group, A.H. Belo Corp., Hearst Corp. and Cox Newspapers to create mobile sites for newspapers including The Denver Post, The Dallas Morning News and Palm Beach Post."

Since they seem to be still trapped in the End of Print blablabla they are still getting it wrong.

The mobile expansion reflects the high hopes the battered newspaper industry has for adding new revenue streams by delivering content via handheld devices. In particular, newspapers are expecting mobile to be a more suitable platform for charging for content than the Web, where access to news sites is generally free. But any revenue gains from mobile are unlikely to significantly offset the steep ad declines newspapers have suffered in print and online.

The fact is that the abundance of content is going to keep the prices very low, whether it's on a desktop or a cell phone. On the other hand, if the information is harvested from all those clicks and advertisers pay for results and newspapers focus on the print piece to earn revenue, it could work.

The rules for content is Read for Free, Pay for Stuff. Print is wonderful stuff.