Perhaps it’s related to the tangibility factor. We do pay a lot (grumble, too much) for a new iPhone. But I have a reasonable confidence, that I can get 2+ good

Perhaps it’s related to the tangibility factor. We do pay a lot (grumble, too much) for a new iPhone. But I have a reasonable confidence, that I can get 2+ good years out of that device. It may even have some resale value. The bi-daily coffee is something I pay a little for, but I can bet I’ll still like coffee at the end of the year. And if I decide to kick the habit, I can just quit paying at any time since each coffee transaction stands on its own. Sites like Medium though are a place where people go to experience networking effects. Thinking about it in the long term might be like buying into a year’s subscription of speed dating at the local bowling alley. It may be all the rage with all the types of people you want to be with this week, but what does next week bring? The hot speed dating activity might move somewhere else. Or the group of people you want to hang out with there might be replaced by a different group of people. Years ago, Brad Cox (of Objective C fame) wrote a great essay on micropayments and the Internet. I can’t find it right now, but IIRC it talked about why micropayments might be the way to go to fund intenert related activities. Unfortunately, my observation of MBA business models is that they have never wrapped their heads around how to implement micropayment models that reach that happy point where consumers benefit as well as producers.