| I don't think it can work. Tipping systems require someone to think about whether they want to tip. The alternative is what I call "microsubscription": a middleman takes a single fixed subscription, then distributes on behalf of users. Examples include Amazon Underground, Apple Music, Spotify, Netflix, Google Contributor and so on. Where these fall down is that they're walled or semi-walled gardens. They don't really work on the open web, users have to be funnelled through some central pipeline for reliable tracking of usage. Which is understandable: open web schemes up until now have had the problem of fraud. Manageable but potentially fatally expensive and offputting. I'm interested in this problem space for two reasons. First, advertising sucks. It distorts the vision that the early internet held out. We got linkbait and exploitatively addictive web design instead. Second, I solved the problem of reliably tracking visits to websites on the open web (patent granted in Australia, pending in the USA). As a side effect, the same protocol can be used in apps, games, API calls -- anything that has a network request-response system with some kind of command channel (especially headers). Plus it can seamlessly integrate with paywalls. Of the microsubscription providers already in service, the one I worry about most is Blendle, because it presents no upfront mental barrier to consumption. On the other hand, it's another walled garden. We'll see. |