• Slate.com, Thursday, April 6, 2006 11 AM

The thoroughgoing redesign of the New York Times' Web site, unveiled less than a week ago, is drawing mostly praise from users and industry observers. Some have noted that NYTimes.com now actually looks a bit more like... a newspaper. Others have singled out its superior organization, its above- and below-the-fold sensibility, and its new emphasis on multimedia components. Writer Jack Shafer, who is employed by the Washington Post Company, is so impressed by the revised site that he wrote a piece for Slate.com announcing his intention to cancel his paid subscription to The Times. "Seeing as I already read huge chunks of your newspaper online, sometimes with the print version in my lap, I might as well go all the way. Online better fits the way I live and work. Your spiffy new design is the tipping point I've been waiting for, and I'm convinced it will ease my transition to a paperless newspaper." The question Times staffers must be asking is, Is this a good outcome? Is it a positive or negative development that the Web site is so appealing it may actually accelerate the loss of the print paper's readers?

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