4 ms·

At any given moment there usually seem to be one or two New York Times articles on the HN front page, which I assume means a reasonable proportion of us are sub

by Joeboy 8y ago

At any given moment there usually seem to be one or two New York Times articles on the HN front page, which I assume means a reasonable proportion of us are subscribers. I don't really see what's wrong with the subscription / paywall model, other than it means letting go of "information wants to be free" dogma and admitting Rupert Murdoch was right about something. At this point it seems preferable to the ad-driven business model.

Donzo 8y ago
One issue that is not addressed by the subscription model is the subsidizing effect that the ad-based model has: The finance professional who lives in New York has very valuable page views. The African school girl does not. Yet, through advertising their values are averaged. The affluent subsidize the poor without even knowing it. Putting content behind a pay-wall reduces this effect and creates an informational disparity that will only broaden the gap of equality between the two. The New York finance professional just has to decide that the subscription is "worth" paying. The African school girl cannot make this same decision.
- Silixon 8y ago
  Opportunity costs only exist wherein opportunities exist.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  For me this is the only positive aspect of our ad-based Internet. It allows people with no money or means to use it - be it a poor African girl, or just me when I was a kid - to access the same information everyone else can. If we could solve that somehow, then killing off Internet advertising would immediately improve the world.
  - TimJYoung 8y ago
    Libraries solve that need, so if there's a way to help fund that type of initiative, especially if it already exists, we should all promote it aggressively.
- vinod1073 8y ago
  I think this problem can be solved by place/people specific subscription rates rather than fixed ones.
code_duck 8y ago
I assume that a reasonable proportion of us clear our browser data frequently.

by Joeboy 8y ago

Donzo 8y ago

One issue that is not addressed by the subscription model is the subsidizing effect that the ad-based model has: The finance professional who lives in New York has very valuable page views. The African school girl does not. Yet, through advertising their values are averaged. The affluent subsidize the poor without even knowing it. Putting content behind a pay-wall reduces this effect and creates an informational disparity that will only broaden the gap of equality between the two. The New York finance professional just has to decide that the subscription is "worth" paying. The African school girl cannot make this same decision.

Silixon 8y ago
Opportunity costs only exist wherein opportunities exist.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
For me this is the only positive aspect of our ad-based Internet. It allows people with no money or means to use it - be it a poor African girl, or just me when I was a kid - to access the same information everyone else can. If we could solve that somehow, then killing off Internet advertising would immediately improve the world.
- TimJYoung 8y ago
  Libraries solve that need, so if there's a way to help fund that type of initiative, especially if it already exists, we should all promote it aggressively.
vinod1073 8y ago
I think this problem can be solved by place/people specific subscription rates rather than fixed ones.

code_duck 8y ago

I assume that a reasonable proportion of us clear our browser data frequently.