Yet Another Option: TimesSelect

So once again I find myself back-tracking. The Times has started an even newer service called "TimesSelect." For those of you similar to ESPN's Insider service, this is very similar. TimesSelect has material that is not normally available on the standard NY Times website.

Valuable material included with a TimesSelect subscription include:

1. Access to 100 Times articles back to 1981 per month
   
   
2. Breaking News and Award-winning Multimedia
   
   
3. Daily News and Features from The Times newspaper
   
   
4. Today's Headlines & Breaking News E-mails
   
   
5. Current and Archival Movie, Theater, Book and Restaurant Reviews
   
   
6. Online Classifieds
   
   
7. Editorials and Op-Eds written by outside contributors
   
   

This service is web-based, so you can access this material from any computer with a web connection. The price is reasonable as well: $49.95 per year. I am currently trying their 14-day trial. If you want to try it out, beware that you will be automatically enrolled unless you cancel before the end of the 14 days. Tsk tsk . . . predatory behavior.

In comparison to the print edition or the electronic delivery option, TimesSelect seems like a better deal not only because it is cheaper, but also because you have access to their archives, which go as far back as the 1860's. I also like the idea of not just being stuck with the print edition's original layout. Instead, I prefer a webpage, categorized by topic, with each story containing links for background information or other related stories. In effect, TimesSelect is a much more efficient news service.

For more information on TimesSelect, see: http://www.nytimes.com/products/timesselect/whatis.html.