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Topic: Micropayments: try it, you'll like it (Read 705 times) |
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David Lucifer
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Enlighten me.
  
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Micropayments: try it, you'll like it
« on: 2003-07-03 10:42:56 » |
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[btw, I signed up for BitPass, paid my $0.25 for Scott's comic and is was definitely worth it. --Lucifer]
Title: Scott McCloud Tries Webcomic Micropayment
Author: Dan Crash
Source: Slashdot
Some people treat the subject of micropayments like they're telling ghost stories around a campfire:
Quote:
"I heard the Micropayment Monster's gonna start charging us for ev'ry page we look at on th' web!"
"Well, I heard that this one guy surfed the web one night, an' the Monster sent him a credit card bill for a million dollars!"
"Oh yeah, well, this kid's mom that I know, she totally freaked out cuz of micropayments everywhere, and threw her computer out the window and committed suicide!"
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Settle down, kids. There's no monster. Micropayments are good, and the BitPass model really seems poised for success. It took me only a few seconds to sign up for it last night, and a couple clicks later I was reading Scott's comic -- the most enjoyable 25 cents I've spent in a long time.
First, the idea that every website is going to start charging people per page is asinine. The sites that try to nickel and dime you to death will end up in the same graveyard as the sites that try to advertise you to death. Don't you already mentally blacklist websites doused in crazy blinking Flash ads or shoshkeles [unitedvirtualities.com]? Most of us will just add the nickel-and-diming sites to the same pile. And advertising will always make more sense than micropayments for large, brand-oriented sites like CNN.com.
Second, the BitPass model isn't going to spring any sudden credit card surprises on anyone. It's essentially the prepaid phonecard model applied to online content. You buy a BitPass card for as little as $3, spend it in nickels, dimes and quarters on your favorite webcomic, band or online beggar, and you're done. Buy another card if you want, or don't. It's pretty simple.
Third, I've often heard people saying things like "I think an entire cent is too much" for online content and "it better be DAMN well WORTH it!"
Let's get some perspective. Name anything that provides more than 15 seconds worth of enjoyment for a dime. Give it a shot. Even a quarter. What can you buy for a quarter? Anything? You probably couldn't get a hobo to kick you in the nuts for a quarter. Whining about the epic, tragic loss of a dime? That's comical. Griping that even an entire cent is too much to support the artists you like? That's insulting.
Scott's comic is a good example of the value of micropayments. It's worth a quarter; it's not worth $7. There are all kinds of creators out there who are excited about micropayments because they know subscription or donation-based models don't work for them. There are worthwhile websites that aren't ad friendly that are creaking under the strain of overwhelming bandwidth bills. Micropayments enable them to survive and flourish.
Tycho's quote that "if you have enough readers who care about your work to go through all that rigamaroll, you could succeed with any business model" just isn't true. If you have 10,000 readers who are willing to spend 25 cents a month on you, then the only way you're going to get that money is through micropayments. Period. With micropayments, you're a creative indie superstar making a living; without them, you're just another schlub barely keeping his website afloat.
If BitPass succeeds -- and with the engine of webcomics behind them, I think they actually might -- it will change the web. Not in the drastic, market-mad campfire story ways, but in the amount of enjoyment and information we'll be able to squeeze out of the web. There will be more websites worth going to, more musicians being rewarded, more webcomics worth reading, more webloggers not just blogging but reporting.
I'd say that's worth a quarter.
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Hermit
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Prime example of a practically perfect person
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Re:Micropayments: try it, you'll like it
« Reply #1 on: 2003-07-03 12:06:10 » |
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Hear, hear!
Hermit
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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lotusfox
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Red Destiny
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Re:Micropayments: try it, you'll like it
« Reply #2 on: 2003-07-16 06:35:10 » |
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it's true. in the end, the internet won't save you any money vs. buying paper comics or whatever newsletter you subscribe too. you'll just get more information for your money because you won't be paying for the paper anymore. and you'll have more say in the matter of what you pay for. unlike newspapers, where your purchace only gets you like 3 pages you actually care to read and a bunch of stuff you wish you never had to see.
-RD
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i am tamed by devouring my own wings
-Hermes
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