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A comment on Why charging for access to news sites won't work.

Re:Why charging for access to news sites won't work by astartupaday on Monday July 20, 2009 @03:48PM (#715025)
Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings about this topic:

"People pay for atoms, not bits"

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Re:Why charging for access to news sites won't work by patio11 on Monday July 20, 2009 @09:59PM (#715571)
Software. World of Warcraft. Text messages. Phone calls. Your gym membership. The $20k of digital goods in your IRA. Brand-name goods (the name is bits, not atoms). Ambiance. Experiences. Charity. Politics. Gift cards.

People pay for bits all the time. Don't be afraid of charging for them!

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Re:Why charging for access to news sites won't work by ojbyrne on Monday July 20, 2009 @11:57PM (#715700)
What people won't pay for is management and distribution of bits. If your job is to make sure that a bunch of atoms get from Point A to Point B, then sure. It's challenging. If your job is to get bits from Point A to Point B, then the magic word "scalability" becomes your job description. If you're not delivering those bits for near zero cost, then what are you good for?
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