Monday, January 10, 2011

Observer E-edition is free today

If the icy weather disrupted delivery of your printed Charlotte Observer today, we invite you to try our electronic edition at NO charge.

That also goes for single copy buyers who can’t get to a news rack.

Our E-edition is an exact replica of that day’s printed newspaper. If you have not tried it, I think you will be pleased at how easy it is to virtually “turn the pages.” It also has the added advantage of search.

It is easy to get the E-edition on your home computer. Simply go to:

https://subscriberservices.mcclatchy.com/char/ELogin.asp

When asked for a phone number, type in 704-358-0108. For the home address, type the number 600. Then apply the security code as provided.

If you need further assistance, operators are waiting at 800-532-5350.

While our carriers are working hard to maintain delivery, it is inevitable that we will experience problems in some areas as a result of the ice. We sincerely apologize if this happens to you.

Please feel free to try the E-edition as an alternative. And if it is your first time, let me know what you think of the experience.

(The E-edition, by the way, is regularly available to print subscribers for an additional $1 a month, and to non-print subscribers for $5.99 a month.)

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

The e-edition should be FREE to people who subscribe to the print edition. Even a dollar is too much.

ThaQueenCity said...

I like the regular online edition better than the E edition. We do get the Observer at home so I can flip through if I want.

Personally, I don't like flipping through the E Edition as if it were a real paper, kinda defeats the purpose to me.

however, I do like the interaction of the online edition.

Thanks for the free preview!

Art Rouse said...

I read the electronic edition on a Kindle, but I can't read the Kindle edition on my I-Pad or computer. Are there any plans for a Kindle app for I-Pad?

Rick Thames said...

Art, our parent company, McClatchy, is experimenting with an i-Pad application on a couple of fronts right now. Until that's ready, if you haven't tried this E-edition on your computer, I think you will find it very useful.

Anonymous said...

Would be nice to view it on iPad. I'd subscribe then. I tried this on iPad and you cannot see anything. On computer looks pretty good, but I want to read on iPad and iPhone. Get that going and you may have something. Does it work on Android tabs or phones anyone?

VanderQ said...

Art, go to the Amazon hope page where you will find the Kindle app for Ipad.

Moses Baba Wimmer said...

I think ANONYMOUS might be expecting a little too much. Where else could you get a deal like this for $0.033 a day?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the opportunity to try this out. I subscribe weekends only to save money, but find I miss the paper during the week. This might just be the solution!

Anonymous said...

I can see the benefit of the online edition for a shut-in, etc. but it is not for me. I much prefer the application on my iPhone or the regular website.

Anonymous said...

Cool! Great way to reintroduce the electronic version. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

What time is the latest E edition available each morning?

Anonymous said...

This blog post caused me to see if TCO was finally up on Kindle and I was surprised to find out that it was. Checking out reviews of it on Amazon, there are some complaints about it not being as complete an edition as some other papers have. Is this still the case? I've never subscribed to the paper, but I would be more than willing to give it a go on Kindle.

Anonymous said...

Thank you - after flipping through it I do find it to be user friendly - and I like the look of a "real" newspaper!

Anonymous said...

Need to make printing more user-friendly. It prints too small. How can I do the puzzles and crossword/sudoku?

Charlotte Observer Circulation said...

The digital edition of The Charlotte Observer is available between 3-6am on most days.

Rick Thames said...

I have a Kindle and I've enjoyed reading the Observer on it. Some of the complaints I've read about the Observer on Kindle date back to more than a year ago when we had some brief problems with the feed. Other complaints are rooted in limitations of the Kindle as a platform. It is very good at delivering text, but only allows a limited number of photos and no graphics, advertisements or comics. Some people miss these features more than others. I suggest that you try the free, 14-day trial for yourself and see if it works for you.

Anonymous said...

Do we get a credit? Plus my Golden can't retrieve the E-edition

Anonymous said...

I can't believe someone would complain about paying $1 per month for the online edition. I have subscribed to the paper for over 20 years and am amazed they are able to continue to provide such a labor intensive effort at the prices they do. Papers across the country, including the CO, are hanging on by a thread. You probably spend more on fast food than on the CO.

Rocks-R-Us said...

I'm a lost cause...in my 40's and still living with my parents. My iPad, Nook, and Android devices are all different, but I like to read the E-Edition on all those devices so I can continue my stories from the little boy's room, to the couch, and down to my bedroom.

Again...I'm a super loser, so please help me learn to live again via the E-Edition.

Anonymous said...

I gotta say that I really like the format, once I got the hang of the navigation. The ONLY issue for me is price. The problem with $6 per month is the comparison shopping - is it really worth double what I pay for Netflix? Is it worth 6 times the free edition? I think the bean counters have this all wrong - make it $2 or $3 and you will get 10 times the participation. But I could be wrong.

Anonymous said...

I have been trying to log on using the phone number, 600 and the code to no avail. Is there are problem logging on today?

SMP said...

Just tried it for the first time and I liked it. I am not a print subscriber, and I admit will probably not subscribe to the E-edition. But I thought it was great to be able to see an exact replica of the print edition--to be able to not miss anything.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad our carrier didn't attempt delivery in the early hours as usual.
Thanks for the alternative.

Anonymous said...

I tried to download it on my Droid & I got an unknown runtime error.

Anonymous said...

My Monday and Tuesday papers were not delivered and this was a great way to read those papers. I still prefer the actual paper edition. This option should be made free whenever a subscriber reports a missed or damaged paper.

Anonymous said...

I am able to access the free e-version now. Thanks-

Anonymous said...

if i'm a weekend print subscriber (Fri-Sun) does that mean $1/month for e-edition or still $6?

Anonymous said...

Nice to see this even in the E-Version: "Auburn vs. Oregon - LATE"

*sigh*

Anonymous said...

The reason E-edition does not work on an iPad is due to the fact that Apple does not support Flash on the iPad. E-edition is a Flash application.

Apple's position is that they do not want to support a "fading" technology; they view HTML 5 as a successor to Flash and therefore choose to focus on the future of the web rather than support a technology that nearly everyone uses.

So until Apple supports Flash, or the E-edition is available as an iPad app... Your best choice is the Kindle app for the iPad.

Anonymous said...

I have always been a lover of printed media. I don't own an E-reader and still buy hard back books. Thank you for the free E paper. I caught up on yesterday's and today's paper just like I was holding it in my lap. My only complaint is that I couldn't do the crossword puzzle. :)

Anonymous said...

Up in Richmond, VA paper subscribers can get e-edition for an extra $5 / year which is reasonable. 5.99 / month is crazy and 12 / year for subscribers is equally crazy. I guess, once print goes away the papers can charge what the heck they want. Right now the papers are doing right-sizing research on e-editions in anticipation?

Rick Thames said...

Anon 6:21, there is good news here. This E-edition actually lets you magnify the size of what you are printing out. Simply double-click on your Sudoku or crossword puzzle and it gets much larger. You can then further adjust the size to fit the page you are using to print on. So, if you like your feature bigger, just make it so.

Rick Thames said...

Anon 9:21, our apologies for a brief server problem that occurred with our vendor. A number of you said you later were able to access the site.

Anonymous said...

I cant print the sudoku or crossword big enough