Will people pay for Internet content: Yes and no!

In the short history of the Internet we have been used to that almost everything is free of charge, and as long as it is floating around with free alternatives I don´t see that changing. Still, I think that there is a future for some specific content that users will be willing to pay for. 

Computer scientist Jaron Lanier writes in the article Pay me for my content published in New York Times, that software engineers and Internet evangelists should design information systems where people have to pay for the content and refers to "delightful ecosystems" as Second Life or the ecosystem of the Ipod. 
I just have a hard time picturing that software engineers for ideological reasons suddenly will shift into making information systems where one has to pay for the content. Information as news will never be paid for even how delightful the ecosystem is, when you can get the same news for free somewhere else. 

In my opinion there is mainly three different niches on the Internet where there is a good chance that people gladly will pay and already are:

1. Movies or games in high quality
2. Exclusive articles or rapports from respected authors or medias who can give insight in a specific subject which can´t be found anywhere else. 
3. Online communities as in games or dating or more exclusive ones where you can feel part of a group that reflects your personality or that allows you to get in contact with certain people. 

What the three niches offer is either quality that cannot be found anywhere else and/or the opportunity to get in contact with people through a certain interest. I sincerely hope that Jaron Lanier and his colleagues find a way to get writers and artists paid for their content besides from adds but they have to come up with something quite unique when it´s competing against alternatives that are completely free.