I think it's a compelling and feasible solution to the news site monetization problem. It just seems difficult to imagine users flocking to something like this away from ad blockers—which improve daily (and are mostly free).
There's been a bunch of similar initiatives, albeit more typically aggregating via a single app (Inkl, Pressreader etc). I've tried some in the past because I'd like to pay for news, but consider site subscriptions as deeply hostile to the www per se. But they all end up with the same problem - great early hope of accumulating more sources over time, which then doesn't happen.
Standardised micropayments are the obvious answer, but it seems to be a ship that's sailed.
If you're in the Apple ecosystem, Apple News Plus isn't too bad. If you read a lot, it's pennies or less per article.
Apple's added a good number of publications since it launched, and I get more value out of it than I used to. But it's still trying to find its sea legs.
Yeah I don't see the appeal here. I do however. see value in a service like this that would allow accessing paid content from multiple news sites - like a netflix or spotify of paywalled news. I still don't think I'd buy it unless I was flush with cash, but I think more people would be interested in that.
crispinb|6 years ago
Standardised micropayments are the obvious answer, but it seems to be a ship that's sailed.
reaperducer|6 years ago
Apple's added a good number of publications since it launched, and I get more value out of it than I used to. But it's still trying to find its sea legs.
slashdev|6 years ago