2 ms·

It would be pretty sad if the web really can't provide a working business model for quality news. I prefer ads rather than high-cost paywalls, and then ideally

It would be pretty sad if the web really can't provide a working business model for quality news. I prefer ads rather than high-cost paywalls, and then ideally a "use as-free" option for a small sum (think android apps). I want to read diverse sources and can't cough up €50-160 for 10-20 different sites that i use more or less frequently. I'd pay €5-10 for each good site that i use frequently to see it ad free and am happy to accept unobtrusive and non-malicious ads on all other sites. We can't act as if everything must be free and painless - then we'll end up with a truly broken internet. The ad pendulum swung far too much to one extreme with horrendous intrusive and malicious ads across the web, but if we let it swing too far the other way we'll end up with a truly dead web where only exploitative (virus-spewing, manipulative (eg paid/planted "news" and propaganda a la RT & Xinhua) and commercial sites continue to exist. My impression is that if i want the internet to remain valuable i will have to accept 'good' ads or start coughing up funds myself.

lastyearman 10y ago
But surely, on average, you end up paying one way or the other? That money has to come somewhere, right? Either you end up paying by buying the advertised products or paying the site directly. Why not just cut the middle men?
int_19h 10y ago
But paywalls are a working business model. Your dislike of them is understandable, but if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. As for reading diverse sources - well, how many people subscribed to 10+ newspapers at once, in the heyday of paper? And why should it be any different in the age of the Internet, if the amount of human labor required to make one newspaper (or equivalent) remains the same? That said, I do think that the current subscription models are also broken (which is also why they're unpopular). What we really need is a seamless micro-transaction protocol, so that I could pay, say, 5c to view one article that I'm interested in. And the browser should provide a consistent UX for the website to request payment, and for me to approve it or not; and also to clearly distinguish links to paywalled resources.

lastyearman 10y ago

But surely, on average, you end up paying one way or the other? That money has to come somewhere, right? Either you end up paying by buying the advertised products or paying the site directly. Why not just cut the middle men?

int_19h 10y ago

But paywalls are a working business model. Your dislike of them is understandable, but if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. As for reading diverse sources - well, how many people subscribed to 10+ newspapers at once, in the heyday of paper? And why should it be any different in the age of the Internet, if the amount of human labor required to make one newspaper (or equivalent) remains the same? That said, I do think that the current subscription models are also broken (which is also why they're unpopular). What we really need is a seamless micro-transaction protocol, so that I could pay, say, 5c to view one article that I'm interested in. And the browser should provide a consistent UX for the website to request payment, and for me to approve it or not; and also to clearly distinguish links to paywalled resources.