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Being able to monetize for quality content is one of the main purposes of this experiment. For our content as well as other people's content in future. I don't

Being able to monetize for quality content is one of the main purposes of this experiment. For our content as well as other people's content in future. I don't understand why content creators have to give away the content for free and "beg" for donations on Patreon. We will allow them to combine the two. There in-app purchases help quite a bit even though we end up losing 10-25% to the app stores. There are some other reasons related to user experience. We can do a bit more in an app than what we can do in a browser e.g. push notifications for new titles and more control over UI. Also, I feel people like apps because people like to put things in "buckets" mentally. But you are right - if/when we get some traction, we will provide a full-fledged platform on the Web also. People can choose where they want to read. Thanks for your thoughts.

drivingmenuts 7y ago
Why would you need Patreon? You an just as easily sell subs to a website. Push notifications can be handled from server side and UI control is a matter of some careful CSS and JS. Matter of fact, you can build a responsive site that looks and feels like an app on mobile and behaves like a site on desktop with one codebase. I’m not against apps, per se, but I do think they are totally unnecessary when duplicating behavior that is just as easily achieved in a browser. Plus, the browser means you can push updates once and everyone gets them, as opposed to an app where it’s piecemeal.
- rlalwani 7y ago
  I hear you. I am not a big fan of apps either - web is based on open standards and decentralized. But micropayments are a problem on the web. In-app purchases do work. Push notifications do matter. If you are right about the web, how do you explain the rise of apps? Gmail, Facebook, Instagram could easily be web-based but their app versions are far more popular. I think you raise a good point though. I am afraid I don't have all the answers but I do see some reasons as I mentioned earlier.

drivingmenuts 7y ago

Why would you need Patreon? You an just as easily sell subs to a website. Push notifications can be handled from server side and UI control is a matter of some careful CSS and JS. Matter of fact, you can build a responsive site that looks and feels like an app on mobile and behaves like a site on desktop with one codebase. I’m not against apps, per se, but I do think they are totally unnecessary when duplicating behavior that is just as easily achieved in a browser. Plus, the browser means you can push updates once and everyone gets them, as opposed to an app where it’s piecemeal.

rlalwani 7y ago
I hear you. I am not a big fan of apps either - web is based on open standards and decentralized. But micropayments are a problem on the web. In-app purchases do work. Push notifications do matter. If you are right about the web, how do you explain the rise of apps? Gmail, Facebook, Instagram could easily be web-based but their app versions are far more popular. I think you raise a good point though. I am afraid I don't have all the answers but I do see some reasons as I mentioned earlier.