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The greatest challenge facing publishing firms like The New York Times is not the lack of an obvious digital revenue stream to replace declining print sales. The issue is the perception of value. Established media institutions are struggling to convince consumers that they are producing work of significantly greater value than that of new media reporters. Defenders of the status quo will argue that editorial control and curation make old media entities like The New York Times indispensable, yet both market trends and the increasing power of online journalism seem to indicate the opposite.

Question: how is The New York Times intrinsically more valuable than the work of a well informed blogger? Answer: it’s not. It’s just more expensive. It’s an outdated business model destined for the scrap heap of history. Let them go, world. It’s time to move on.

This is not an iPad. Obviously. But don’t you just want to reach out and *tap*?

This is Lion.

Apple released its first developer preview of Mac OS X Lion today. Not being a developer, I haven’t used it, but I’ve been following the reaction closely. People seem impressed. But while Apple’s told us its intentions – bring the advancements made with iPad “Back to the Mac” – I think it’s worth considering what motivated Apple to make the design decisions it did.

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While some have expressed anger at Apple for rejecting Readability’s new app from the iOS App Store, John Gruber hits the nail on the head.

[H]ow can anyone be surprised by this rejection? Readability’s business model is to charge a subscription fee, keep 30 percent, and pass 70 percent along to the writers/publishers of the articles being read by Readability users. Sound familiar?

Maybe I’m missing something, but these guys claiming to be surprised and disappointed by Apple’s insistence on a 30 percent cut of subscriptions when their own business model is to take a 30 percent cut of subscriptions strikes me as rich. And how can they claim that Readability isn’t “serving up content”? That’s exactly what Readability does. What they’re pissed about is that Apple has the stronger hand. Readability needs Apple to publish an app in the App Store. Apple doesn’t need Readability.

This goes back to what I wrote in my last post. Apple’s growth for more than ten years has been to gain leverage over its negotiating partners. Readability, while a small-scale operation, is one of those partners. Of course, this opens Apple to charges of “greed” and “meanness,” but while a few people may be unhappy that Readability isn’t available for iOS, I suspect most outside the tech blog bubble won’t care.

Let me explain. No, wait, it’s too much, let me sum up: Apple has instituted a new subscription policy for its App Stores that states any in-app purchases or subscriptions must send 30% of revenue to Cupertino, or else the app will be pulled. In addition, any app that sells content or subscriptions outside of the App Store must also sell it within the App Store at an equal or better price, or else the app will be pulled. This puts content providers like Amazon, Netflix, and major media publications in the crosshairs. They will have to make a decision by June on whether or not to comply with these new guidelines or to leave Apple’s platform altogether.

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In the past week, I’ve done something new during my regular Starbucks visit: I’ve paid for my coffee using my iPhone. Using the Starbucks Mobile Card app, I’ve been able to complete an entire transaction without my wallet. What’s amazed me is how simple and painless the process is: I open the app, tap the screen once, and hold it in front of a scanner. Transaction: complete.

With NFC technology already being deployed in mobile devices and widely expected to be included in the next iPhone, we’re rapidly approaching the point where our phones/pocket computers/helpful miniaturized robots will replace our wallets, and perhaps even our keys. Once again, folks: we live in the future.