To Pay Or Not Pay: That Is The Question

Let's be realistic: if we're already used to getting a good deal of information online for free, then why go back to paying for information? To expect people to voluntarily agree to pay for content now is a pipe dream. To expect this plan to work is even crazier!

I understand that writers need to get paid. And yes, we'll have to find more creative ways to get our hands on the loot. Whether or not it's through changing the information system under which we currently operate remains to be seen. It's a pretty creative solution, though.

Forcing the change on users, I believe, will be extremely difficult for the following reasons:

1. There are many too many software designers out there: Just as one can create a system where content has a price tag, someone else can create the opposite as well.
2. Who says users will accept it with open arms? You may get a backlash from users who may just boycott the product altogether.
3. You would have to offer a real good incentive for users to even consider affordable over free.
4. How do you qualify incentive? How do you quantify that?
5. All writers or producers of content on the Internet would have to be on board in order for this to have any substantial effect. That's unlikely.

Jaron Lanier's Op-Ed piece Pay Me for My Content should at the very least have us thinking about different ways of earning income from our work. Or perhaps offer a different perspective on how our work can be a gateway to more income. It's something to think about...

In this video of the show Conversations with History Jaron Lanier talks about the implications of technology on culture along with the communications revolution.