6 ms·

Cheap is better than free. If we had a way to seamlessly pay pennies for access, we'd never have to sell our data or suffer through ads.

intrasight 11y ago
Agreed. We're still all waiting for the micropayment revolution.
- solotronics 11y ago
  this is a great application for BTC in my opinion
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  It'll never happen. The cost of buying something can't go below the attentional cost of deciding whether to buy it.
  - Dylan16807 11y ago
    If it defaults to on, you don't have to think about it.
    - thaumasiotes 11y ago
      That sounds like a great way to go bankrupt.
      - Dylan16807 11y ago
        Okay, I can explicitly say that it would cap and use percents of the cap if you want. Look at flattr, not as an exact model but as similar.
mindslight 11y ago
After you've paid these pennies, what is the incentive to not still show you ads or surveil you for commercial advantage? IMHO we're better off focusing on defeating the hostile behavior first. The Internet was a much nicer place before monetization via web spam.
- carbocation 11y ago
  In fact, after you have paid these pennies, you have proven that you are willing to pay. This makes you even more valuable for an advertiser than you were when you paid nothing...
  - privong 11y ago
    > This makes you even more valuable for an advertiser than you were when you paid nothing... But it's the websites that are being paid by the advertisers. If the reader is more valuable to the website than the advertiser is, then advertising might be reduced. Of course, it's possible advertisers would respond to this by offering more money per ad.
- tptacek 11y ago
  It was? I don't remember it that way. There was definitely a lot less web spam before web spam, and pages loaded faster, but we weren't more secure (we were less secure, for reasons having nothing to do with web spam), and we had fewer choices and less content.
  - mindslight 11y ago
    Less "content" was great. It was nicer to sift through a few pages of search results to find a few dense authoritative sources, edited and published by people with something to say. Today, the results are better ranked but more fragmented and sparser in originality, with a heavy weighting towards commercial platforms that aggregate tidbits. (I don't really see what security has to do with this)
  - idlewords 11y ago
Swizec 11y ago
The problem with cheap is that people have huge expectations. "What do you mean I'm not entitled to life-long free updates after I paid you $0.9 for your app? I AM A PAYING CUSTOMER AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!" Happens a lot. I write books, here is a lovely email I got from somebody who spent a whopping $7: > Please refund me this purchase immediately. I cannot believe you are selling a product that is obsolete. React no longer uses [mixins] and we are already on React 0.14 RC-1. Considering that this product is effectively ONLY 35 pages, I would have expect you to have kept the code current. I will contact my credit card company today to ensure a credit was issued. Ed Post Script: I have perused your website before and was hesitant. Today, I took the plunge and am very disappointed! I never get that sort of behavior from people who buy the $59 package. ;)
- rust4homoslol 11y ago
  he's got a point what's the issue with refunding him? his email comes off as a bit rude but that's just how people can be on the internet at first
- 01Michael10 11y ago
  Curious... Link to the product you offer? $35 page book for $7?
  - Swizec 11y ago
    http://swizec.com/reactd3js/ http://swizec.com/reactd3js/ It's actually a bit over 60 pages, and the reason people pay is this: "With React+d3.js you'll learn how to build re-usable visualization components in about an hour." And because past buyers say things like this: "I'm starting a new position where I will focus on data visualization using React and d3. I got everything I needed from the book, your examples were straight forward and easy to follow. Thanks!" I've had a lot of people comment, both online and in person, that it was the perfect book for them because it's short and focused.
    - voltagex_ 11y ago
      Bought! Hope that helps you get back to writing "Why programmers work at night" ;)
Animats 11y ago
We do. It's called phone bill cramming. Premium phone services are almost as dead as premium Minitel tiers. It's an idea that's definitely been tried.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

intrasight 11y ago

Agreed. We're still all waiting for the micropayment revolution.

solotronics 11y ago
this is a great application for BTC in my opinion
thaumasiotes 11y ago
It'll never happen. The cost of buying something can't go below the attentional cost of deciding whether to buy it.
- Dylan16807 11y ago
  If it defaults to on, you don't have to think about it.
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    That sounds like a great way to go bankrupt.
    - Dylan16807 11y ago
      Okay, I can explicitly say that it would cap and use percents of the cap if you want. Look at flattr, not as an exact model but as similar.

mindslight 11y ago

After you've paid these pennies, what is the incentive to not still show you ads or surveil you for commercial advantage? IMHO we're better off focusing on defeating the hostile behavior first. The Internet was a much nicer place before monetization via web spam.

carbocation 11y ago
In fact, after you have paid these pennies, you have proven that you are willing to pay. This makes you even more valuable for an advertiser than you were when you paid nothing...
- privong 11y ago
  > This makes you even more valuable for an advertiser than you were when you paid nothing... But it's the websites that are being paid by the advertisers. If the reader is more valuable to the website than the advertiser is, then advertising might be reduced. Of course, it's possible advertisers would respond to this by offering more money per ad.
tptacek 11y ago
It was? I don't remember it that way. There was definitely a lot less web spam before web spam, and pages loaded faster, but we weren't more secure (we were less secure, for reasons having nothing to do with web spam), and we had fewer choices and less content.
- mindslight 11y ago
  Less "content" was great. It was nicer to sift through a few pages of search results to find a few dense authoritative sources, edited and published by people with something to say. Today, the results are better ranked but more fragmented and sparser in originality, with a heavy weighting towards commercial platforms that aggregate tidbits. (I don't really see what security has to do with this)
- idlewords 11y ago

Swizec 11y ago

The problem with cheap is that people have huge expectations. "What do you mean I'm not entitled to life-long free updates after I paid you $0.9 for your app? I AM A PAYING CUSTOMER AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!" Happens a lot. I write books, here is a lovely email I got from somebody who spent a whopping $7: > Please refund me this purchase immediately. I cannot believe you are selling a product that is obsolete. React no longer uses [mixins] and we are already on React 0.14 RC-1. Considering that this product is effectively ONLY 35 pages, I would have expect you to have kept the code current. I will contact my credit card company today to ensure a credit was issued. Ed Post Script: I have perused your website before and was hesitant. Today, I took the plunge and am very disappointed! I never get that sort of behavior from people who buy the $59 package. ;)

rust4homoslol 11y ago
he's got a point what's the issue with refunding him? his email comes off as a bit rude but that's just how people can be on the internet at first
01Michael10 11y ago
Curious... Link to the product you offer? $35 page book for $7?
- Swizec 11y ago
  http://swizec.com/reactd3js/ http://swizec.com/reactd3js/ It's actually a bit over 60 pages, and the reason people pay is this: "With React+d3.js you'll learn how to build re-usable visualization components in about an hour." And because past buyers say things like this: "I'm starting a new position where I will focus on data visualization using React and d3. I got everything I needed from the book, your examples were straight forward and easy to follow. Thanks!" I've had a lot of people comment, both online and in person, that it was the perfect book for them because it's short and focused.
  - voltagex_ 11y ago
    Bought! Hope that helps you get back to writing "Why programmers work at night" ;)

Animats 11y ago

We do. It's called phone bill cramming. Premium phone services are almost as dead as premium Minitel tiers. It's an idea that's definitely been tried.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]