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1. The problem with per-article paid access is that the question of access is tied to the question of cost. I'm working at a scale of information where I'm look

1. The problem with per-article paid access is that the question of access is tied to the question of cost. I'm working at a scale of information where I'm looking at thousands Prices should be in tenths of a penny. Your 2) is false: at some point, I've got to consciously decide whether or not I'm paying for content. Otherwise you're making a sham of the concept of a discretionary payment system. Much as bundling has made a sham of cable programming consumer choice? Micropayments done correctly would pay directly per view. You'd exercise consumer choice by visiting or not visiting. If you're dissatisfied with a content producer, you stop visiting. If micropayments are measured in tenths of a penny, it's not even worth getting the refund. Instead of having your eyeballs paid for indirectly through advertisers, both viewers and advertisers can be bidding for your eyeballs. Long tail advertisers will be better served, and long tail consumers will be treated better by advertisers. For 3 & 4: it depends on what the granularity of the system...The answer was the literary or publisher's magazine. Note that digital goods aren't as limited in granularity as they were in the days of paper, vinyl, & CD. And information is a public good, as Google's Chief Economist argues. There are problems with advertisements paying for public goods. That's subject to its own kind of "Tradgedy of the Commons."

dredmorbius 10y ago
> Prices should be in tenths of a penny. Sorry, per item? Or graded in tenths of a cent? On what basis? What do you see a total spend being? What kind of income do authors, composers, filmakers receive? Independent of work length or effort? What works are you incentivising as a consequence? And again, to what end, and providing what kind of information structure. Think through the pricing system, because 1) this isn't trivial, 2) what you incentivise matters and 3) what matters, ultimately, is whether and how those who can write are paid relative to other options. > Micropayments ... would pay per view. Why is that a desireable objective? Should, say, healthcare, education, or fire prevention be paid on a per-service basis, by those who receive those services directly? Why or why not? What are the consequences of such a payments system? How do those consequences change with different social (or urban) environments, or shape those environments. Bonus: Look up Crassus. After you answer. Adjust accordingly, if you like. > Digital goods aren't limited in granularity... No, but attention is markedly finite. Purchase decisions are a high-attention action. > Advertising ... "Tragedy of the Commons" I'm generally familiar with advertising, and quite familiar with the Tragedy of the Commons. I don't see how these two go together.

dredmorbius 10y ago

> Prices should be in tenths of a penny. Sorry, per item? Or graded in tenths of a cent? On what basis? What do you see a total spend being? What kind of income do authors, composers, filmakers receive? Independent of work length or effort? What works are you incentivising as a consequence? And again, to what end, and providing what kind of information structure. Think through the pricing system, because 1) this isn't trivial, 2) what you incentivise matters and 3) what matters, ultimately, is whether and how those who can write are paid relative to other options. > Micropayments ... would pay per view. Why is that a desireable objective? Should, say, healthcare, education, or fire prevention be paid on a per-service basis, by those who receive those services directly? Why or why not? What are the consequences of such a payments system? How do those consequences change with different social (or urban) environments, or shape those environments. Bonus: Look up Crassus. After you answer. Adjust accordingly, if you like. > Digital goods aren't limited in granularity... No, but attention is markedly finite. Purchase decisions are a high-attention action. > Advertising ... "Tragedy of the Commons" I'm generally familiar with advertising, and quite familiar with the Tragedy of the Commons. I don't see how these two go together.