by: Joe Pompeo | CapitalNewYork.com

When The Huffington Post launched its weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, a month and a half ago, executive editor Tim O'Brien explained why they had decided to make it a paid product at 99 cents an issue, $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.

"We feel it's a premium product and it deserves to carry a price with it in order to access all the value we're giving people," he told a small group of reporters the week it launched in June.