“There’s a heated turf war going on inside the New York Times over the iPad, pitting print die-hards against people focused on the Times’ digital future,” Ryan Tate reports for The Business Insider. “The outcome will determine pricing for some marquee content on Apple’s tablet.”

“The internal fight might also determine how relevant — and profitable — the nation’s most prominent newspaper can remain in the digital future,” Tate reports. “Which is probably why there’s reportedly so much sniping over who gets to control the iPad edition internally.”

“On one side, a Times source explains, you have print circulation, which thinks it should control the iPad since it’s just another way to distribute the paper. They’d like to charge $20 to $30 per month for the Times’ forthcoming iPad app, basically the product already demonstrated on stage with Steve Jobs, the source said. Why so much? Because they’re said to be afraid people will cancel the print paper if they can get the same thing on their iPad. Nevermind that iPad distribution comes with none of the paper or delivery costs associated with print, or that there’s already a free electronic edition available to subscribers who cancel,” Tate reports. “On the other side, you have the Times’ digital operation, which is pushing to charge $10 per month for the iPad edition and is said to be up in arms over print circulation’s pricing.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: In general, those who are still reading the print edition of The New York Times are the last people that will get iPads, if they ever do get iPads before assuming room temperature. The people who will sign up for The New York Times on iPad are people that are not currently paying for, nor are they reading, The Times’ print edition. iPad owners will only subscribe to Times if the price is reasonable, which $20-$30 per month most certainly is not. The Times’ print circulation people are batshit insane. This isn’t rocket science, nor is it 1995. Print is dead. What we’ve just explained so concisely is all The New York Times’ ultimate decision-maker needs to know. Now make the right decision and prosper once again or kiss your asses goodbye.

Believe it or not, the world survived just fine without The New York Times and it is perfectly capable of doing so again. The writers and reporters will simply move to digital publications that understand how the world works today.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "James W." for the heads up.]