News
iLounge adopts subscription model, establishes hourly Q&A fee
By Jeremy Horwitz
Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Friday, March 31, 2006
News Category: Site News
Bowing to industry pressures and hoping to boost income from its widely-read iPod and iTunes web site, iLounge.com has announced substantial changes to its free content offerings, refocusing heavily on revenue-generating measures. Effective 9:00PM PST today, April 1, thousands of previously free pages on iLounge.com will be locked, and made available only on a pay-per-page or monthly subscription basis. “Having watched the experts at Napster and RealNetworks practically mint their own money with similar plans,” explained Jeremy Horwitz, Editor-in-Chief of iLounge, “we decided to bet the company on a similarly great idea. Soon, users will be able to unlock the site with individual ‘iLounge Keys,’ sold for 99 cents per page, or monthly ‘iLounge Gold’ site-wide access for only $12.95. Everyone else is trying to sell something to Apple fans, so why not us?”
“Too many times, we’ve passed up opportunities to make an easy buck,” said Dennis Lloyd, Publisher of iLounge, “so starting now, we’re going to change that.” In addition to starting an all-nude version of its popular iPods Around the World photo galleries, the site will begin to publish reviews written by accessory and service providers, and open its Discussion Forums to endless quantities of viral advertising and astroturfing. Lloyd also disclosed that Ask iLounge, the site’s weekly Q&A column, would be cancelled in favor of ‘iPod Buddies,’ a $65/hour consulting service where iLounge editors or high school students (as available) will offer in-person or telephone iTunes assistance and music recommendations to needy readers. “We think that these changes will ultimately benefit both us and our readers,” said Lloyd and Horwitz, “and if they don’t, at least we’ll be able to enjoy the nude photo galleries.”
Update: Happy April Fool’s Day, everyone! Expect a real announcement soon!
Next: Mix: iPod commands, Discovery Channel, NES shuffle, ZoFunk
Shop in the loungeStore for iPod + iPhone Accessories.
Comments
If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.
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21
buncha greedy bastards.. would have been exactly what I would have said had my brain not kicked in
Posted by Dennis Morgan on April 1, 2006 at 1:25 AM (PDT)
22
What ? No iLounge-to-go at $19.99 ? That’s it! I’m buying a Zen!
Posted by Bren on April 1, 2006 at 1:30 AM (PDT)
23
Que malos son los friday’s night fever ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
Posted by gonzalo on April 1, 2006 at 1:32 AM (PDT)
24
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…
*breathes*
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Posted by phennphawcks on April 1, 2006 at 2:39 AM (PDT)
25
capitalist sods.... oh… hah hah just as i thought… u should hav made the sign in button more believable allowed people to type in their names....
after all of these comments if it is not a april fools joke…
Posted by andy2808 on April 1, 2006 at 2:59 AM (PDT)
26
Where’s the multi-pass option?
Posted by sshafer on April 1, 2006 at 3:24 AM (PDT)
27
Not funny.
Posted by nothumourous on April 1, 2006 at 3:25 AM (PDT)
28
YAY!!!! Nude IPODs in exotic locations, no slip covers or protective sleeves!!!! Kinda dangerous though isn’t? No telling what kind of scratches they may pick up in foreign lands....
Can’t wait to read the reviews by the manufacturers, I know they have our best interests at heart!
Sign me up, I’ll take two!!
Posted by SouthernGothic on April 1, 2006 at 3:58 AM (PDT)
29
If its a April fools joke, then its not funny.
If its not a joke, you guys are retards and you will lose visitors.
Posted by Roger767 on April 1, 2006 at 4:29 AM (PDT)
30
Jeremy, seems fair. I’m in for the monthly Gold subscription.
BTW, my new 100GB touch screen iPod arrived today. The screen fades to black when it’s off like it is supposed to, but when it wakes up - it tries to automatically connect via wi-fi to my home network. How do you turn that feature off?
Posted by runningman on April 1, 2006 at 4:29 AM (PDT)
31
Roger767,
Lighten up dude - it’s a joke. You must be a bundle of fun at parties.
This is a great site and a little fun once a year isn’t something to go throwing your toys out of your baby buggy over.......
ROLL EYES......
Posted by The Joker on April 1, 2006 at 5:10 AM (PDT)
32
Wonder if they’ll accept airmiles?
Posted by Bob Levens in UK on April 1, 2006 at 5:11 AM (PDT)
33
I get it!
Posted by Multimoog on April 1, 2006 at 5:36 AM (PDT)
34
I fed $13 into my floppy drive and I still don’t have access - what gives?
Posted by Mork on April 1, 2006 at 5:51 AM (PDT)
35
Now, a really good April fool’s joke would be for iTunes to be made free!
Posted by peter on April 1, 2006 at 5:53 AM (PDT)
36
Damn, I was just getting ready to enter my credit card info on the site.
Posted by Sapporobaby on April 1, 2006 at 7:15 AM (PDT)
37
Dude, I’m getting a Dell DJ.
Posted by magomra on April 1, 2006 at 7:35 AM (PDT)
38
Good one.
Posted by Lee on April 1, 2006 at 7:36 AM (PDT)
39
I agree with Will we should sue, a class action law suit.
As it was not clearly posted that this was a April Fools joke I became confused and panicked. As a result I was not able to control the volume on my iPod. I was not able to distinguish the Apple logo from the Apple Corp logo and I purchased $99,999.00 worth of Beatles albums I did not want. Then I ate 25 whoppers. I am now deaf, broke, and I had a stroke.
Posted by clipper on April 1, 2006 at 8:07 AM (PDT)
40
Yeah yeah, funny funny.....
but where do I click for the nude galleries? Come on, don’t joke about something so serious.....where are they???
Posted by Chris on April 1, 2006 at 8:56 AM (PDT)
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