I don’t know who the Star-Advertiser paid to set up its subscription firewall, but the system doesn’t work well. And that’s being polite.
It’s especially aggravating because I often try to check the news early in the morning, BC (i.e., before coffee). At that stage of the day, I’m not really into running a technological gauntlet.
Some days I just give up trying to get my user name/password combination to be recognized by the S-A, and just go somewhere else for news.
There are two places where the Star-Advertiser asks you to sign-in.
One, at the top of the Star-Advertiser main page, appears to be a general log-in.
If you don’t use that and instead click to read a specific story, you will be asked to enter your log-in info before the full story is displayed.
In my recent experience, the general log-in at the top of the page doesn’t work. It has started rejecting my request, saying that the account is logged in on another computer. I suppose that’s possible. I access the S-A from my laptop, iPad, and occasionally iPhone. A special check box invites you to stay logged in for 7 days. Did I check this at some point? If so, it was definitely a mistake, despite sounding like it would make things easier.
Okay, so I can’t log-in there. Stage two. Request a specific story, and reenter user name/password. This time it lets me read the story. So far, so good.
Then I return to the main page to select another story. But when I click on the headline, I’m not taken to the story. I’m asked to log-in again.
This time around, it’s seems to somewhat randomly either accept or reject my log-in attempt.
Sometimes I’m able to read several stories in a row. Sometimes I’m repeatedly asked to log-in. And if I try to go back to that general log-in at the top of the page, it will again reject my info and shut down my access.
I haven’t had any similar experience with any other news subscription.
The Star-Advertiser has some work to do if it wants to provide a satisfying user experience.
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I quit reading SA on line when they began the charge…I am not missing anything…
Ditto, Patty, sadly. When inspired, I pick up a hard copy of the SA every few weeks or so – and I find most critical news elsewhere online for free.
Ian,
Thank you for reading TSA so the rest of us don’t have to.
Your piece on HPR this morning was an insight into making history.
Have Happy Holidays!
There are 3 people on 3 different computers in 3 different buildings who are always able to log into the SA with my log-in info, so I don’t understand why you are having trouble, Ian. On another note, why did I have to enter my log-in info to comment here? Why didn’t your blog remember it from last time?
Same here, Ian. The problematic log-ins seem to be worse & more frequent on any Windows platform.
Once again, for LESS money, the NYT allows its paid subscribers simultaneous access on more than one computer.
SA – how about contacting the NYT’s IT people to find out how this type of rocket science works?
I agree. If I could figure out how to cancel my subscription (weekends, which includes the online for free), I would!
I have the same issues. They told me they have a Mac OS / Safari problem.
Yeah, me, too. Same problem. Plus I’m getting very tired of seeing Linda Lingle’s face at the top of the page every time I log on.
I asked about that too. She’s paying $10K/mo. (one year contract) in order to force you to look at her mug every day.
Stop paying them and maybe they will fix it.
We don’t have any problems – we started a (real) subscription a year ago because I was sick & ired of the slow-w-w-w-w downloads & the high frequency of the pop-ups.
NOTE: my computer is a 2003 Dell desktop which means I cannot use any screening software upgrades
Anyhow, it now takes me well under an hour to read the entire weekday paper compared to the two or three hours it takes to read the S-A on-line.
Since I’m rarely around the computer during the day, I usually drop by the Main Library or the Public Access Room at the State Capitol to read other on-line pubs. As soon as I send this off, I’m heading on into town.
However, getting back to your problem – I do check out the breaking news and that does not require a log-in.
Furthermore, based upon my experience over the last year, there are far more national and international stories in the (real) paper than the on-line version.
Finally, according to several sources, I understand that paywalls will be the norm with virtually all respected news sources – not the ones generated by the nutburgers – within the next three years.
Have a great holiday folks – be careful while driving and start getting geared up for the 2012 election season here in Hawai`i.
While I share Jim’s lament, am I ever glad my judgment told me not to bite, despite important updates missing in the NI editions I buy from the racks
The paywall trend concerns me in that the news from other cities can be an indispensable source for folks involved with issues in their own communities. For instance, I can’t remember the details now but when she first came aboard I did a lot of reading about… well, rather than single anyone out, and I’m sure that most readers of this blog will be able to fill in the blank with their own choices, I’ll just say that it’s interesting how often our nationwide searches leave us with another town’s damaged goods on our highly paid public servant shelves.
I’m hoping that, if paywalls are inevitable, they should be limited to the current week’s or month’s news so that people won’t be inhibited from doing their own investigating on issues they care about. I’m assuming that most of the money to be made is in what’s current; I feel the public should insist that the media share the old news as a public service. This will help us to, amongst others, keep government honest.
I also have wondered why it doesn’t just remember who I am from the last time. If they want to have the paper on line then they need to figure out a way to make it easier for people to actually get on there and read it on line because the way it is set up now is too much !
I have seen some quirkiness in the pay-wall but not enough to make me want to pull the plug, yet. What drives me crazy is the writing. Take this example: “A man is in serious condition after being shot in the Waianae area late Sunday night.” How do you shoot a man in the Waianae area? You can shoot him in the head or the leg or the chest but NOT in the waianae. To be fair, this example is from Hawaii News Now, but I have seen many similar examples from the SA. Have the style guides changed while I wasn’t looking? It would have been much clearer as follows: “A man is in serious condition after being shot in the chest outside his Waianae areas home late Sunday night.”
I had a little contact dermatitis in my Waianae area last week. A few applications of prescription antibiotic ointment cleared it right up.
“There are laws to protect the freedom of the press’s speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press”: Mark Twain