ErikH2000 wrote:
Good and valid points, but they're not universal. Sure, micropayments won't work for people that think they can get away with charging 25 cent for something people don't know anything about, or for people thinking charging less for low-quality products will make money come streaming in. It's also true that any payment creates a barrier. But, when people know what it is they're paying for, when it's something they want, that they know is worth their money, in those cases I think this might work.
You're right that in some cases micropayments would work and in other cases it wouldn't. For me, I think the interface would be pretty important. Wrong ways to do it:
1. If the payment system is constantly asking me to make decisions like "
Would you like to pay two cents to view this page?"
, I'll be annoyed. I'll just want to pay a larger lump sum for access to more content. Or not pay anything at all.
2. If the payment system is supposed to be quiet and painless, and you just rack up a tiny bill as you access content, I'll get paranoid, and again be wanting a simpler, straightforward way to pay for the content.
I think something like a taxi cab meter would be good. You go to a particular site and get prompted: "
Would you like to access premium content on HappyTown.com using micropayments?"
And at that point you set a maximum spend limit. A little fare meter pops up while you are at the site. If you mouse over a link that will take you to another page that costs money, the cost of accessing that page shows up next to your cursor.
I guess I want it to be really obvious when I am spending money, so I feel safe, but not a neverending series of confirmation prompts.
-Erik
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