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by Paul-ish 2965 days ago
Ive used blendle. I wish there was a browser extension that would detect paywalls and let me use blendle to see the article. Right now I have to open a new tab and search the article on blendles website. That adds friction that causes me to use blendle less than I would.
3 comments
mmt 2965 days ago
That and the "we're in beta" not just being able to sign up for it in a straightforward way makes it a non-starter for me (and I would expect for most consumers).
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lsc 2965 days ago
It sounds like the sort of thing that would be amenable to a greasemonkey type script? hm. sounds like an interesting project.
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jacques_chester 2965 days ago
> Ive used blendle. I wish there was a browser extension that would detect paywalls and let me use blendle to see the article.

I designed such a system in 2012 and was granted a patent for it late last year. I asked a professional about what to do next and the advice was "wait until someone is infringing". Not hugely satisfactory.

I wanted to build the scheme described in the article. My goal was: fix the internet. The way it's paid for breaks it. Fix the money and the rest would follow.

Everyone who's thought about this problem for more than 10 minutes has hit on the same basic business model. I hit on it in 2008, I wasn't the first. Since then I've watched business after business fail in this area. The problem has never been the technology and I'm not sure if a successful shared scheme will ever emerge.

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lsc 2965 days ago
well, just sitting on a patent and waiting for an infringement isn't going to help fix the internet. That would be the other thing.

Seems to me like a patent is a good start, a good nucleus around which you could build some venture capital to actually try to start a company to solve the problem.

I totally agree that the problem isn't technology, it's the business side, the negotiation and that end. You'd need a very business-y business partner.

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jacques_chester 2965 days ago
In fact I got the patent for that purpose -- to act as a substitute for the usual pedigree pattern-matching. I just didn't see it taking 5 years.

I go back and forth on whether to try and raise funds. It's an all-or-nothing proposition because of my visa status. There are also personal considerations involved.

Having worked for a mixed services/enterprise company, I am now keenly aware that sales is a strategic necessity and steady PR is a massive force multiplier. You can have the best everything in the world, but if nobody's buying, it doesn't matter.

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