Newspapers are producing new applications for Apple's iPad in the hope they provide more significant per-reader advertising revenue and, perhaps, more significant per-reader subscription revenue.

But The Economist notes it's not yet a match made in heaven. There are several challenges as papers enter the app age. Apple is making it difficult to sell subscriptions (the other day word surfaced that Apple is going to take a 30% cut on such revenue) and is reluctant to say much about buyers (frustrating for publications that want to cross-sell into other services).

Another dilemma is what to do about existing free Web services --- wall them off, curtail their offerings, retire their development?

The Economist suggests that publishers are hoping another device, perhaps with Google's Android operating system, emerges and gives them some leverage over Apple.