Comments on: A Simple Rx for Publishing

By: dark_faust

dark_faust — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:02:00 +0000

“There’s a role for micro-subscriptions perhaps in publishing, but the content has to be (obviously) solid, compelling and informative.”

That’s a hard sell to engineers, even at minimal rates of $1-$5/month. As you note, Brian, the key is content. But it’s also the way in which that content is displayed – at least for engineers. By display, I mean in the form of perhaps a java app that presents real-time data, i.e., plotting the power-rate of node specific designs, or maybe a tool that give some useful data. ChipEstimate’s Insight comes to mind, tho I’m thinking of something simpler. Something that drives interest to the site several times a week. Not exactly sure what that “added value” component is for engineers, but I think it is more than just content. Or rather, it’s content/information displayed in a way that is familiar and appealing to a very specific audience.

Now, if I only had the time to create such an app….

By: Greeley's Ghost

Greeley's Ghost — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Dan, great to hear from you! And a great comment.
Clearly it’s working its way out. I was a panel today and heard that wikipedia tripled its fund-raising goal this year to $6 million. They made it and got most of it in $1 to $5 donations.
There’s a role for micro-subscriptions perhaps in publishing, but the content has to be (obviously) solid, compelling and informative.
Somehow the toothpaste, some of it, has to be shoved back into the tube.

By: Dan Holden

Dan Holden — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Brian, my thoughts: First, the issue at the Chron is fundamentally a management/union dispute taken to the level of tacit threat. That aside, news is not self-supporting. Newspapers generate revenue because they offer a sales channel to advertisers. A poorly written newspaper may fail due to the quality of its reporting, (which is grist for another reply), but today, newspapers are dying simply because the Web is free, and that free access lets anybody be a journalist. The playing field has been not just leveled, but obliterated. But the fundamental need to make a living still exists. So what’s the answer for a journalist who’s teetering on the edge of a paycheck? I think you have already nailed it in an earlier post: a gig. No, not a freelance writing assignment (unless you like that sort of thing), but something to sell through your own blog, web page, IMVU site, whatever the case may be. A good story is still, today, really just another sales channel. It’s not self-sufficient, unless you can compile it into a book and sell it as such, or make a Hollywood movie out of it. The point is, there has to be something of great value behind (or more accurately, supporting) the blog, web page or tweet. I suspect many a good journalist will wince at this idea, because they are used to the illusion that they have been selling stories. But it was true of newspapers and its true of the web today, that words have significant monetary value only insofar as they create pull-through to a sale. Don’t get me wrong, a good speech or great story will still be a hit or a best-seller…in another medium. Daily or even instantaneous journalism will only achieve that reward once in a great while. Blogging or twittering may look like penniless anarchy to the fourth estate, but its really a tool to a different source of income. What that source is, is the real jewel.

By: Loring Wirbel

Loring Wirbel — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Geez, people wouldn't pay for content in the flush days of the late 1990s, and Slate got its ass handed over on a platter for trying.

In 2009, everyone is trying to barter or reduce expenses for everything. I think this idea could be revived in about 2013, when there might be some discretionary money in the average consumer's budget. But by then, of course, it would be too late.