On top of using Firefox as my default browser everywhere because I want to see it have more than the 5% user share mentioned at the end of the article, I've additionally replaced Chrome itself with Brave when I need Chromium rendering. I have no idea if BAT coins will be a thing, but the idea is neat (and relevant to your comment) and the care towards privacy plus the ability to turn all the BAT stuff off is satisfactory.
More broadly, though, I agree with your comment and think there are additional unlisted problems.
I pay for Ars Technica because they offer an amazing cross-format (HTML, RSS, PDF, etc) clean browsing experience for paying customers plus sent a branded Yubikey plus had clear online cancel buttons instead of hoops like other publishers. In my personal utopia, every news site would be served in this cross-format ad-free fashion.
I honestly wish they'd send a new branded Yubikey every year so I'd always have an important branded physical reminder of their existence as its the best and most useful tschotske I've received as a thank-you-for-subscribing gift (and probably likely so for others in the HN crowd).
Ars Technica is one of the few sites I regularly visit directly (just like I visit hckrnews.com to often and directly). Just like here on HN, I directly visit for the content curation and occasional comment (both of which is better than social media algorithms).
Which lead me to the consideration of a third problem...
3) Users try before the buy. You can only begin the process of receiving money after they've read enough content.
I'm surprised I haven't seen more cryptocurrency-based $1/week type subscriptions to unlock the content/features/etc for a week at a time (or perhaps forever, if a user sent enough cryptocurrency).
More broadly, though, I agree with your comment and think there are additional unlisted problems.
I pay for Ars Technica because they offer an amazing cross-format (HTML, RSS, PDF, etc) clean browsing experience for paying customers plus sent a branded Yubikey plus had clear online cancel buttons instead of hoops like other publishers. In my personal utopia, every news site would be served in this cross-format ad-free fashion.
I honestly wish they'd send a new branded Yubikey every year so I'd always have an important branded physical reminder of their existence as its the best and most useful tschotske I've received as a thank-you-for-subscribing gift (and probably likely so for others in the HN crowd).
Ars Technica is one of the few sites I regularly visit directly (just like I visit hckrnews.com to often and directly). Just like here on HN, I directly visit for the content curation and occasional comment (both of which is better than social media algorithms).
Which lead me to the consideration of a third problem...
3) Users try before the buy. You can only begin the process of receiving money after they've read enough content.
I'm surprised I haven't seen more cryptocurrency-based $1/week type subscriptions to unlock the content/features/etc for a week at a time (or perhaps forever, if a user sent enough cryptocurrency).