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Why won’t some people pay for news?

In no particular order, issues and thoughts ...

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3…

#News #Media #InformationMarkets #Markets #Newspapers #NoGoddamnItMicropaymentsAreNotTheAnswer #Bias #Relevance

In no particular order[0], issues and thoughts: A: The product stinks. Throughou... | Hacker News

news.ycombinator.com
#News #media #markets #bias #relevance #NoGoddamnItMicropaymentsAreNotTheAnswer #newspapers #InformationMarkets
in reply to Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​

alcinnz
alcinnz
• •
Interestingly micropayments do exist for online news, implemented in a very round-about way: Assumming they're charged by the kilobyte readers pay to view & be tracked by the ads. Which eventually makes its way back to the newssite.
in reply to alcinnz

Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
• •

Yeah, nah.

"Repudiation as the micropayments killer feature (Not)"
old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/c…

NB: Ignore "repudiation" in the title for now --- that's just one of many scamsWschemes to plaster over a turd which fails to address the underlying failures.

Yes, someone can prop up a shitty fucked up micropayments fallacy for a time. It won't solve the general media issue.

Information-as-a-public-good will.

$15.40/person-month for ads-free news. ($8 with ads).

Another $6.50 buys you all-you-can-eat book access.

No tracking, no monitoring, no ads, no bullshit.

Pro-rate by HH wealth/income for equal access.

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3…


Repudiation as the micropayments killer feature (Not)

Over a two-part series at the occasionally-promising [_Evonomics_](http://evonomics.com) website, science fiction and Transparent Society author...
reddit

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in reply to Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​

alcinnz
alcinnz
• •
I'll be clear: I really don't like the answer I stated. I just find it an interesting parallel to draw.
in reply to alcinnz

Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
• •

I somewhat suspected that on 2nd reading.

I dislike the concept enough that I tend not to bother reading closely, even when I should 😺

in reply to Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​

MarkusL
MarkusL
• •

The surveillance mechanism is so expensive to build, maintain and run that it must eat up a lot of the revenue that comes from advertising. It's not an efficient way to fund content providers.

I can think of lots of reasons why we got here (no micropayment infrastructure; familiarity with the advertising model; resistance to payments in cash), but I still hate it as much as anyone else.

@alcinnz

@alcinnz
in reply to Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​

mathew 🦜☕
mathew 🦜☕
• •

I pay for Apple News+ for that reason.

There's also us.readly.com

Curiously, most newspapers seem uninterested in taking part in such ventures.


Readly | All magazines - one magazine app subscription

Readly | All your favorite magazines with only one subscription for a fixed price of $9.99 a month. Try the unlimited magazine app for Free!
us.readly.com
in reply to mathew 🦜☕

Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
• •

Apple, or Google, or Amazon, or Facebook taking on this role is of course one option, and one that I'm aware of.

I think it's ultimately more problematic.

The ISP-gateway relationship already exists. And there's billing built in to it.

Generally, people will receive broadband / Internet connectivity:

  • Through a wired residential or commercial service (cable, DSL, fibre, microwave beam, ...)
  • Through a mobile provider.
  • In some cases, satellite Internet, with Starlink likely an increasingly prevalent source.
  • Incidental access through some local PoP (point of presence), which itself relies on one of the above.

Other than satellite, each of these reliies on some entity with a local physical presence.

And with whom local regulators and publishers could reach agreements.

Again a key obligation I'd like to see is that 1) no good-faith publisher could be refused, 2) that no exclusive distribution arrangements where multiple connectivity providers exist be permitted, and that 3) no clients be denied content access. That is, there's a common carrier / common access obligation at the carrier, publishier, and recipient levels.

@alcinnz

@alcinnz
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