Dave Winer wants an E-ZPass for news sites (why the hell is it E-ZPass rather than EZ-Pass?) to make navigating multiple paywalls easier: “Collect the money if I decide to read a New Yorker or LA Times piece, even though I have’t got a subscription with either.” It’s an interesting idea that identifies one problem with the needs of both writers and readers to make sure good writing is paid for, similar to my earlier concerns that things like individual paid email newsletters (which wasn’t yet a business seem unsustainable absent some way to cross-pollinate, because who’s going to subscribe to five different email newsletters for $25/month when you frequently can get all of The New York Times, The Washington Post and Medium for less than that, especially when many of those newsletters thesmelves might be commentary sparked by Times or Post stories?
Published to write.house by Bix Frankonis. Comments and replies by email are welcome.