There are all these Quora-like services coming online these days. 

Why doesn't the Times have one? 

I'm not suggesting that they develop it. Partner. The Times is a distribution channel. They already have a lot of smart readers and a smart website. Do more to bring the former into the latter.  

They don't think in terms of opening the news process to their readers, which are imho their biggest asset. Bigger than the big minds they employ. And almost totally untapped as a resource for informing and advising each other.  

Gradually the Times is going to have to decentralize or it's going to break. 

The digital subscriber idea seems to be working. The marketing makes sense. They're talking about the reader not themselves. A major milestone for the Times. They've discovered that other smart people exist. (Sorry for the sarcasm.) Now go the next step and find a way to use more of what all thos smart people have to offer.