Cannot select words on the New York Times website

[neartheredrocks]

Hello Forum,

One of the great features of the New York Times website (I mean the normal website, not the NYT app) is - when reading an article on the computer, not on the iPad3 - the possibility to highlight a word, click onto the little questionmark that appears next to the word, and then getting the definition of this word presented in a separate window. This feature is obviously powered by some external service called "wordnik" and the definitions come from "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language". For me, being originally from Germany, this is very helpful and I am using this feature many times every day.

However, this does not work when reading the same pages on the iPad3 (again: on the normal NYT website , not on the NYT app which I don't like at all).

Question: Is there any way to make this work on an iPad3?

Moreover, it is most of the time also not possible at all to highlight a single word and have the "Define" thing come up. It seems to me that I am upon opening an article on my iPad3 only very sometimes and then only exactly once able to highlight a word and after that not anymore. This applies to Safari, Atomic Web and iCab Mobile all the same.

Question: Is it normal not to be able to highlight single words in an article on nytimes.com or can I do something about that?

And lastly: I don't like the built in dictionary of the iPad very much. What kind of dictionary is this? Do I have a choice here?

Thanks for your replies!

neartheredrocks.

 

[Kaykaykay]

You used to be able to highlight, look up, and cut and paste from the NYT on iPad, but they stopped allowing it once it went behind a pay wall.

 

[neartheredrocks]

... they stopped allowing it once it went behind a pay wall.

How do they do that? With Atomic Web I get identified as a normal "Safari Desktop" or "Firefox 5" and still cannot highlight anything (while I still can do it on a computer)?

 

[Kaykaykay]

How do they do that? With Atomic Web I get identified as a normal "Safari Desktop" or "Firefox 5" and still cannot highlight anything (while I still can do it on a computer)?

No idea, but I've been reading NYT for years and noticed the change.

 

[neartheredrocks]

I just signed up and paid for a website/iPad subscription for the NYT. With the NYT app I can now highlight words.

However, with any browser highlighting still does not work (and I'm, of course, logged in). Is that normal, even for subscribers?

 

[Kaykaykay]

I just signed up and paid for a website/iPad subscription for the NYT. With the NYT app I can now highlight words.

However, with any browser highlighting still does not work (and I'm, of course, logged in). Is that normal, even for subscribers?

Yes, I subscribe and that's my experience. I don't like the app, so I read via browser.

 

[neartheredrocks]

Why do you subscribe when anyway reading in a browser?

I just did a test on my computer with two browsers next to each other - logged in with one browser (Firefox), not logged in with another browser (Safari). I cannot see any difference in my reading experience in both browsers.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Why do you subscribe when anyway reading in a browser?

I just did a test on my computer with two browsers next to each other - logged in with one browser (Firefox), not logged in with another browser (Safari). I cannot see any difference in my reading experience in both browsers.

I've always subscribed, because I want to support good journalism. But you know that since they went behind the pay wall, you need a subscription to read beyond a certain number of stories, right? It started out as 20 free articles a month, then went to 10 recently.

 

[neartheredrocks]

... since they went behind the pay wall, you need a subscription to read beyond a certain number of stories, right? It started out as 20 free articles a month, then went to 10 recently.

I always wondered about this statement. It is not my experience on the normal NYT website with a browser - whether with computer or with iPad. I can read as many articles as I want, both from the main page and from the section pages.

Regarding the not-highlighting with the iPad - I don't see much of a point in going on with my subsciption if I cannot highlight words on the iPad in order to get definitions. I actually just wrote about this to the NYT. It will be interesting what they have to say about this.

 

[Kaykaykay]

I always wondered about this statement. It is not my experience on the normal NYT website with a browser - whether with computer or with iPad. I can read as many articles as I want, both from the main page and from the section pages.

Regarding the not-highlighting with the iPad - I don't see much of a point in going on with my subsciption if I cannot highlight words on the iPad in order to get definitions. I actually just wrote about this to the NYT. It will be interesting what they have to say about this.

I rarely read NYT on computer since getting my first iPad two years ago. If you read on iPad via browser, you will get locked out at 10 stories now. There are ways to get around that, but I prefer to help support the journalism via subscription.

Highlighting isn't a priority for me.

 

[neartheredrocks]

Highlighting isn't a priority for me.

Understandable when you're American (or British). I use the dictionary feature of the NYT not only to understand certain words but also to improve my English. It is a truly great feature! ... but obviously not available on the iPad.

Thanks for all your input.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Understandable when you're American (or British). I use the dictionary feature of the NYT not only to understand certain words but also to improve my English. It is a truly great feature! ... but obviously not available on the iPad.

Thanks for all your input.

Cheers. Hope it works out and they restore the feature.