That's genuinely an interesting question to ponder on. I'm unaware of how microbilling lost out in the past and from the post I'm not entirely convinced that wa

That's genuinely an interesting question to ponder on. I'm unaware of how microbilling lost out in the past and from the post I'm not entirely convinced that was the reason people lost out. But the idea of an account topped up with money which pays out to publishers as you visit their posts sounds like a very promising alternative to ads and subscription models. Subscription models are great for supporting publishers but I've discovered that I've stopped subscribing because I might read only a tiny percentage of what's published. But to be able to support on an article basis sounds great. Some raw numbers, if we read 15000 articles per year ( I read/skim a maximum of 50 per day) then it's not a bad thing to say 150 USD per year or 1 cent per article read. Maybe that's too much. But I was spending about 70 USD per year for subscribing to 3 publications that I gradually started reading less of. So a 150 USD to read my normal fill where I pay both to support the writer, and not have myself tracked sounds great. I bet I'll even make it back in bandwith saved :D