5 ms·

The End of My Paid Subscription Content Experiment

19 points by razin 16y ago

FluidDjango 16y ago
Interesting thoughts about the psychology of the writer - how s/he's affected by the "payment" or "firewall" status of the site. Feld's reactions match what I've sort of expected from myself if in a write-for-fee mode. Most other discussions have been geared toward the reader's reaction. I think the impact on authors is equally significant (and might need to be addressed differently?).
puredemo 16y ago
I highlight text as I read and found the highlighter popup very distracting and annoying.
- hartror 16y ago
  I do this too and stay off NYT for that reason. Also my girlfriend doesn't watch me read for the same reason :)
robryan 16y ago
I think you need to come at it more from the mindset that it's a small amount of money that people don't mind losing if it doesn't turn out, then you can be more natural and unfiltered about your thoughts. I think it also helps to think of the small payments people are paying as allowing you a little more freedom in having the experiences and thought which you are writing about. I like this explanation of using letterly: http://rosshill.com.au/letterly/ http://rosshill.com.au/letterly/
zackattack 16y ago
i like the idea of paid content and wish it were more abundant on the web. for example, i would pay Venkatesh Rao to hurry up with more posts in his Gervais Principle series and i am glad to pay $5 per. actually, come to think of it, $5 seems like a lot.. $2 for a bad one and $5 for a good one, all right.
- Dylanlacey 16y ago
  I think a lot of people balk because the nominal cost of content online is "free", including content that is supposed to cost money, ala BT. I don't have a problem with paid content but I'm never sure if it'll be worth it, because I find testimonials honestly less then useless (I mistrust them) and I can't check a physical 'thing' before I buy. I do like the idea of variable pricing, perhaps a cost to enter then a fixed variable cost for your "enthusiasm" for that content?
preek 16y ago
The highlighter would have killed my interest if not for readability. It is incredibly annoying to read any decent portion of consistent text with the highlighter turned on.
Supermighty 16y ago
While I find it admirable that the author wants to charge for quality content it really isn't his decision what is worthy of being paid for. It is his audience who is the final arbitrator of what is worth their $1.99 a month. There are after all a ton of shitty things being bought and sold for much more.

19 points by razin 16y ago

Interesting thoughts about the psychology of the writer - how s/he's affected by the "payment" or "firewall" status of the site. Feld's reactions match what I've sort of expected from myself if in a write-for-fee mode. Most other discussions have been geared toward the reader's reaction. I think the impact on authors is equally significant (and might need to be addressed differently?).

puredemo 16y ago

I highlight text as I read and found the highlighter popup very distracting and annoying.

hartror 16y ago
I do this too and stay off NYT for that reason. Also my girlfriend doesn't watch me read for the same reason :)

robryan 16y ago

I think you need to come at it more from the mindset that it's a small amount of money that people don't mind losing if it doesn't turn out, then you can be more natural and unfiltered about your thoughts. I think it also helps to think of the small payments people are paying as allowing you a little more freedom in having the experiences and thought which you are writing about. I like this explanation of using letterly: http://rosshill.com.au/letterly/ http://rosshill.com.au/letterly/

zackattack 16y ago

i like the idea of paid content and wish it were more abundant on the web. for example, i would pay Venkatesh Rao to hurry up with more posts in his Gervais Principle series and i am glad to pay $5 per. actually, come to think of it, $5 seems like a lot.. $2 for a bad one and $5 for a good one, all right.

Dylanlacey 16y ago
I think a lot of people balk because the nominal cost of content online is "free", including content that is supposed to cost money, ala BT. I don't have a problem with paid content but I'm never sure if it'll be worth it, because I find testimonials honestly less then useless (I mistrust them) and I can't check a physical 'thing' before I buy. I do like the idea of variable pricing, perhaps a cost to enter then a fixed variable cost for your "enthusiasm" for that content?

preek 16y ago

The highlighter would have killed my interest if not for readability. It is incredibly annoying to read any decent portion of consistent text with the highlighter turned on.

Supermighty 16y ago

While I find it admirable that the author wants to charge for quality content it really isn't his decision what is worthy of being paid for. It is his audience who is the final arbitrator of what is worth their $1.99 a month. There are after all a ton of shitty things being bought and sold for much more.