, from oldest to newest:
I think Clay's right - as proposed, micropayments take too much attention for the value of the transaction.
It might be possible to have a micropayment subscription though - I pay $5/month for micropayments to a variety of sites (a network, or anyone in a group that standardized on this micropayment standard...XML formats, central server, etc. could all happen. Plus partner with VISA, Amex, Mcard...you get the picture.) And then I get micropayment access without having to think about each transaction...just a notification if my account balance gets low during the month, with the option to 1-click top up the account via credit card/PayPal/bank transfer.
don't tell MS or Amazon though ;)
have a good weekend all.
Posted by Jess @ 07/06/2001 05:08 PM pst
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I think McCloud is in favor of micropayments because his work is a perfect example of where it could work.
I think the micropayments issue has many facets and cannot effectively be reduced to 'micropayments will work' or 'micropayments won't work'. I think there are situations where micropayments could thrive, and situations where they probably won't. In short, they could work where
1.Publishers find the right match between the 'size' of the content and the price
2.Content creators have loyal followers
3.Payment systems honor reader's preferences and are optimized for the new mental models resulting from micropayments
4.Readers perceive there are human creators behind the content and the importance of supporting these creators
I wrote a little essay on it all if you're iterested.
Posted by Victor @ 07/06/2001 07:02 PM pst
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This is going to sound lame, but I hope folks actually think about it. Micropayments will eventually work but they won't work as we expect them to work. Basically, all of the ideas regarding micropayments suck and users won't accept them. That is sort of Clay's position. On the other hand, there are some systems that sort of act like micropayments now, such as PayPal.
Ultimately, I think that they'll work but that will only be because some big company is able to make them happen. Again, I don't think the actual instantiation will make sense to folks. For example, if Microsoft actually takes over the internet, or a huge part of it, then Passport could be the mechanism.
In a way, this whole discussion reminds me of the banner ad discussion. People claim that banner ads will go away because they suck and they don't work. Obviously, the do work to some degree. Also, they don't totally suck. In the end, banner ads will work, but they won't be the kind we saw in 1998. Perhaps they'll have more of a purpose. Perhaps they get interactive and useful (although I hate the Flash ads I keep seeing). Or, maybe the pop-unders will generate money. Who really knows? Only the market I think, as a collective. We'll vote with our dollars. Maybe our microdollars.
(Boy, was that a long and useless posting or what? Sorry about that.)
Posted by WebWord @ 07/08/2001 06:41 PM pst
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If you hit the button on the wayback machine, I think you'll find that arguments for and against micropayments go back to '95--or even earlier.
Shirky's arguments are seductive, but I'm not certain he's dug down to the root of the issue. While it's true that users haven't accepted micropayments, I'm not so sure it's because users *hate* them--it's because users hate the *implementations* that have been offered so far. No single micropayment implementation has been really frictionless [buzzy, but it fits]. Worse, each has demanded too much of the user, and each demand has required additional decisions.
What might make for a winning system?
+ Make it simple.... "click to buy" and you're done. Period.
+ Make it safe... a la PayPal or smartcard, "charge" an account with funds. No end-of-the-month surprises.
+ Make it private... just because I'm buying something from you doesn't give you rights to my personal data.
+ Make it universal... one payment platform that works *everywhere*.
What about hybrids?
Micropayments with aggregation--let's say I can read the New York Times for 5 cents an article, but in no case will I be charged more than 25 cents a day...
Micropayment with subsidy--same deal at New York Times, but if I click-through an ad, the advertiser pays for my page view...
Posted by Bloggle @ 07/08/2001 11:05 PM pst
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