Why Micropayments Suck

from the thank-you dept

It's amazed me for many years to hear people talk about micropayments as if they will solve all of our problems, when I think they'll only cause many more problems. Here's an article explaining why micropayments are unlikely to ever work. First, people don't like variable payment systems. It's pretty clear that people like flat-payment all-you-can-eat plans. It was true with ISPs, it was true with cell phone plans, and it's becoming true with long distance plans. Why do people think it's the opposite with internet content? The article also points out that micropayments also mean income for companies is much more variable. Finally, the author points out that the infrastructure to support a true micropayment system would simply be too expensive and too cumbersome to work well.

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