AP Stylebook comes to the App Store

It's like the AP put up a giant billboard:

"YUP -- WE STILL THINK THIS WHOLE 21ST CENTURY THING IS JUST A FAD"

The AP, of all organizations, should realize how little most writers make. $28 is a bit rich; writers are not.

I'd love to have this on my iPhone but I'll stick to the book until the price becomes realistic

The interesting thing here is that the app says that those who buy the 2009 AP Stylebook will receive the 2010 application for free.

I'll be curious to see how they handle a free upgrade, since it's the type of thing that the App Store is not designed to support.

They're kidding if they think this pricing will entice people to sign up. I own the printed version of the AP stylebook, and it's outrageous to charge nearly twice as much for a version that costs exactly zero in marginal costs to produce. Even throwing in the 2010 version along with the 2009 version (which they will), it's bad marketing and just dumb.

So let me get this straight -- the AP gives away its content to any website that knows how to link, but wants to ream people for having access to a document that already exists in print.

And you wonder why the newspaper business is in the toilet.

The print version is actually more like $12 at Amazon.

The iPhone app costs more than an online subscription to the AP Stylebook, too — that's 25$.