Hi °C | Lo °C I don't think my morning ritual is that unusual among office workers. Come in, hang my jacket on the back of a chair, turn on my PC; while that's warming up, I pop out for a coffee.
When I get back I start up the internet browser and spend about 10 to 30 minutes surfing through my usual websites to get a quick catch up on the news I need to know.
I check work emails, check my personal email account, Twitter feeds, Facebook and browse through BBC sport, Guardian News and the Belfast Telegraph for news. I'll maybe stray further if there's a particularly gripping news story. So that by 9am I'm happy and content to make my way towards my daily tasks without further distraction.
All this content is free for me to browse. Work pays for the internet connection and I use this to view all the news headlines, videos and various feeds I want.
Up to now it was accepted that I would be available to reach by the advertisers on these websites while I browsed - because the content was so good that I didn't mind the advertising.
In fact, we are pretty used to seeing advertising alongside anything we find enjoyable to watch on TV, listen to on radio and read in press - with the exception of the BBC. This advertising model has done well to fund most commercial content up to now.
This is all about to change with News International's decision to bring in pay walls in June of this year. No longer is it going to depend on advertising to pay for its content, but require readers to pay for access to its news stories.
The Times and Sunday Times will charge £1 for a day's access to their online content, and £2 for weekly access. This means that after June these sites won't be available in all the usual content feeds most of us would check on a regular basis, and it will have to be a concerted choice for Times editorial above all others which will drive subscriptions.
This is an interesting experiment that the rest of the publishing world will be watching closely to see if it offers a consistent and viable revenue stream.
More mainstream publishers are already following suit by adopting paywalls, with the likes of Johnston Press, Emap and Spectator with plans on board.
Financial publications like the FT.com and Wall Street Journal have successfully implemented the paywall model - illustrating that their valuable market reports, financial charts and niche content has got a price for the business market.
Through my subscription with a trade publication NMA, I access the archive information they offer behind pay walls, because much of their content is valuable to me.
However, I'm not sure that I would pay for this content out of my own pocket, as I know that within 10 searches on Google I can normally retrieve the original sources of the statistics I need. So this is where the problem lies, what will the new online version of Timesonline.co.uk offer that cannot be offered by other newswires which aren't restricting their content behind paywalls?
Access to news on the web doesn't quite work in the same way as the process of buying a newspaper from the selection stocked in your local newsagents - there are unlimited websites available within a click of a button as an alternative to what may soon be subscription based titles.
My browsing habits which may once have included Timesonline, may simply be replaced by the Irishtimes.com or the Independent.co.uk.
It's going to be a tough and bloody battle for online newspapers to get sustained subscriptions for their online publications. Their audiences will inevitably shrink to be replaced by a far truer and more engaged audience who place monetary value on the content they receive.
The iTunes app store and Spotify have shown people are willing to pay small amounts of money if the product delivers what they want.
Online news will just have to step up to the plate and fight with the gaming apps and music tracks for our pound online.
I'm not totally sure my surfing habits will change hugely after June, maybe I'll have a few less websites on which I'll spend time and a few more will take their place.
Ruairi McNally is media director for Bluecube Interactive ( www.bluecubeinteractive.com ) who recently won Best Design and Development Agency at the Digital Media Awards 2010. His email address is Ruairi@bluecubeinteractive.com
