Talk is cheap

In my latest for the Guardian, I take a look at the latest talk about how subscription apps and microtransactions will usher in a new era of paid content. And I conclude that it is just that: talk.

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6 thoughts on “Talk is cheap”

  1. Prognostication is always fun and a common angle taken by political writers. What does this mean? What will happen? are two questions frequently asked by journalists? Of course, what *will* happen is actually beyond the realm of journalism. Journalism is about what did happen.

  2. My model for online journalism would be like EZ Pass, the toll booth payment agent. I like the convenience of just driving through tolls everywhere I go with stopping, but I wouldn’t want to have an account with each toll. Likewise I get my info from all over the place, but not enough from any one source to want to subscribe.

    Someone needs to start NewsPass, which will give me one place to register my credit card or EFT, and debit my account a few pennies for each article I read in member news outlets, no matter where they are. And of course I want to be automatically signed in to all of them, like with Facebook Connect. As long as there are enough member news outlets, and I get to see an abstract of each story for free, I could go for that business model.

    Oh, that’s what Google announced. Cool! 😉

  3. Nickels and dimes can add up to big bucks.

    After a couple of months of high bills on the Newspass, and behaviors will change. (Just look at the cell phone as an example of behavior change in usage habits.)

    Might just be enough to drive people back to print media.

  4. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. PressDisplay is a successful website that offers access to 1500 newspapers, with a $10/month plan for 30 papers and $30 a month for “unlimited access” which is really about 100 papers in a month. You can also access several articles for free each day before the meter starts running. Right now it’s tied to “electronic edition” PDF-type displays, but they could tie in website access for the many people who prefer links and updated stories. I like buying this kind of access much better than having to subscribe to one paper all the time, or pay for each article I read.

  5. A general has just been forced to resign because of comments made to Rolling Stone, and this “made-for-Dan” story brings not one blog entry? Help. This is the kind of moral mess I need Dan Kennedy to unravel.

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