Apple's New Tablet Computer Could End Free Media

(MYFOX NATIONAL) – It looks like the free digital lunch may be over. As Apple gets set to release its new tablet computer, media producers everywhere are hoping to finally see their content — largely free up to now — generate some much needed revenue.

A Jan. 25 article from The New York Times says the new device — with the portability of an iPhone but the computing power and feel of a fully-functioning laptop or desktop computer — may be just what online media outlets need "to undo mistakes of the past.”

What mistakes are those? Giving their content away for free.

Media providers everywhere have been scrambling for ways to charge customers for their content. The simple truth is that in the age of the Internet, people have come to expect that stuff for free.

According to The New York Times article, the rush to garner site hits and drive traffic to compete for advertiser dollars led to content providers offering free content as a differentiator. “Almost all media companies have run aground in the Internet Age as they gave away their print and video content on the Web and watched paying customers drift away as a result,” the article reads.

However, “... in the last decade, while people downloaded music illegally to their desktop computers, they happily paid small amounts of money on their cellphones to download ring tones and send text messages.”

Content producers are hoping the same phenomenon will apply to the Apple tablet, which will have a constant 3G connection to the Internet and deliver a portable, fast, sexy interface to premium content.

A Jan. 21 article in The Boston Globe points out that many content providers are gearing up to end the age of free content online. The New York Times, for example, is planning to begin charging for access to certain premium content. Others are expected to follow suit, and Apple’s new tablet may be the catalyst.