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Getting used to paying for internet services (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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We all know the saying of if you are not paying then you are the product, which again became relevant with how Reddit is dealing with its business model and trying to get everyone into their dataharvesting for more ads ecosystem. It is really sad how many of the worlds brightest techminds are building technologies that in the end all leads to show more ads.

I have been online for over 25 years, so it is a hard expectation to break that everything should be free. Free email, free search, free news, free social media etc.

Given how much time many of us spend using various online services, paying a little seems reasonable. Yet I often tend to think way too long on even smaller digital expenses, like an app for €2, but I will happily pay €10 for a coffee and a croissant at a train station like it is nothing.

I have seen many saying they wouldn't mind paying a bit for a good Reddit experience, and I think I could even be persuaded to pay for Facebook if it removed all the ads and let me control my feed again like we could in the beginning. Yet these companies don't really seem interested in providing that option.

What services do you find worth paying for - even though free alternatives exists?

I have a neutral email provider, a todo app (Todoist), a journal app (DayOne), a podcast app (PocketCast) - as well as the usual plethora of streaming services. I have considered trying Kagi for a paid search engine, though that is really a hard pill to swallow when good search have always been there freely available. Though Googles quality have really gone down in recent years.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

before the whole "everything is free on the internet" you had to run your own server, know someone or pay a huge bill for special network services.

it was VC money being thrown at people for 20+ years trying to make them think the place was just "supposed" to be free and funded entirely by spam. It does not work, this is not PBS this is communication, and each user has to make a certain amount of input to keep it operational.

What you are seeing is the internet returned to its intended designs and interactions. We aren't supposed to be tied to providers, only protocols.