> The web, has never developed a sufficiently workable "micropayments" solution
Is this just because payment processors make it non-viable? I used to think crypto would come and rescue us in this regard, but it hasn't yet. I also liked the old readability model (pay a fixed monthly amount which gets distributed among sites you visit) but that didn't make it either.
It's a curious thing, on all of the three counts you (aptly) mention ...
I think it has to do with "legacy" financial costs "granfathered" into electronic payments by existing processors (VISA, etc), preventing costs from being low enough to warrant micropayments even existing ...
... and, no, web 3.0 and crypto has not made it (balcanization, lack of critical mass) ...
... as to the loss of the third model (fixed, monthly), the loss of that is puzzling. Might have to do with "freemium" being the (initial) web's "default" model, and friction being enough to chock it (stop it) at or before birth ...
... and pricing: Subscriptions (at least at first) were too highly priced. That appears to be changing.-
> friction being enough to chock it ... Subscriptions (at least at first) were too highly priced
I totally agree. Subscribing to one site for, say, $5/month doesn't seem that onerous, and if it's a really, really good source of information, may be worth it. But subscribing to every website that I might want to visit a few times each month? Forget it. It's like the 'X different streaming services' problem writ much, much larger.
This is why I had so much hope in the readability approach — $5 in total, the site I visit most might get $2.50, then the next gets $1, etc.
Indeed, what you mention (death by a thousand cuts) is an issue ...
... for the sake of argument, however, you then end "back on square one", so to speak, with a "centralized" "gatekeeper" for content ...
... so, what to do (maybe): An open standard for pre-paid balances that is interoperable, as a sort of "pay-per-rss-article" standard, with standarized pricing. But, good luck with any of that ...
Is this just because payment processors make it non-viable? I used to think crypto would come and rescue us in this regard, but it hasn't yet. I also liked the old readability model (pay a fixed monthly amount which gets distributed among sites you visit) but that didn't make it either.