the internet's new "subscription" model - how many sites do you subscribe to?

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amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
15,781
1
71
I've been an internet addict going on almost 8 years now, so I can totally sympathize with the whole "free information" mindset.
But, remember folks, this is simple economics at work here.
It costs money for server space, web design, content creation, etc. etc. etc.
Where are the sites going to get money for this? Ads? When was the last time you clicked on an ad, even if the site was begging you to? I remember plenty people getting pissed when they HAD to click on ads to get into the site.

I figure that like a magazine costs money to read, the internet is becoming the new form of commercial information distribution media. I have no problem with sites charging, I just won't subscribe unless it's unique information/articles or if they really make it worth my while.

Take Anandtech, it's cheap and you get good stuff like unlimited PMs and faster servers.
I subscribed to Binnews.com because it's thorough and newsgroups are way more reliable than any P2P server.
I still have trouble finding the justification in paying for gaming sites to download demos. THOSE should be free.
 
K

kgraeme

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2000
3,536
0
0
Originally posted by: Cyberian
How many magazines are free?
How many don't have any advertising?
Click to expand...

The problem with that argument is that I don't pay $40/month for U.S. postal mailbox access. I do pay for the online access. I don't have a solution. The problem really originated with the online advertising firms not treating online advertising like other advertising and paying accordingly. Instead of the cost based on CPM, it was based on clickthrough. What they fail to understand is that advertising on the internet isn't any different than traditional media, but because the clickthrough rates weren't there it was declared to be a bust business model. It was greed and stupidity that got us to this point.
 
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Valhalla1

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
8,678
0
76
expired anandtech subscription? I signed up when it was first announced, for 1 year.. when do these expire, i cant remember when that was.


i think us who subscribed immediately for 1 year and have been here since before fusetalk should get another year for free! :D
 
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Scootin159

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2001
3,650
0
76
Originally posted by: Valhalla1
expired anandtech subscription? I signed up when it was first announced, for 1 year.. when do these expire, i cant remember when that was.


i think us who subscribed immediately for 1 year and have been here since before fusetalk should get another year for free! :D
Click to expand...

View my subscription information <- it's at the top of your window :).
 
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Scootin159

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2001
3,650
0
76
Originally posted by: jliechty
Zero. I'd love to subscribe to Anandtech, though, if I could afford it.
Click to expand...

I really have a hard time buying this argument. It costs what, $2.50/month? I don't care how poor you are, $2.50/month isn't much at all. I could see you not feeling that you spend enough time here to make it worth that, but I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could find $2.50.
 
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Valinos

Banned
Jun 6, 2001
784
0
0
Salon.com and I'm about to subscribe to AT. If anything, I think AT deserves the money for all the info I've got here and the time I spend.

I may not post much, but I've been lurking in the forums since 1999. The first time I came here was in '98 when I needed info on how to build my first computer :D

Invaluable information and I believe AT deserves the money.

Salon.com also provides quite a bit of good information and some well-written articles although I don't always agree with their viewpoints. It was cheap when I subscribed so I figured what the hell.

I refuse to pay for gaming sites. I used to visit Gamespot and IGN every day. Now I visit them about once a week just to get a quick rundown on news, since some of the smaller sites don't get it until a day later. I have found that Gamespy rivals both IGN and Gamespot in content...and its free.

I really hate IGN for charginf to even READ the forums. How utterly stupid. Gamespot is screwing themselves with locking the reviews...and well...everything. Gamespot has become almost totally exclusive and I don't think they'll last the rest of the year. IGN at least offers some witty insight and editorials into the entertainment industry as a whole and also offers plenty of other info other than just games.

I have to agree with kgraeme. I think the sites just let themselves fall into this position. The advertisers won't pay even half as much as they do for radio, TV, and magazine ads but they get many more viewers. With Flash they even have a way to rival TV ads. I really think the business model is silly.
 
J

jamison

Platinum Member
Mar 7, 2001
2,326
0
86
Anandtech and Fileplanet.

I do the fileplanet with a friend though, he pays every other month and we share access. So that is about a total of $5 a month.
 
Chaotic42

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,952
2,103
126
pobox.com. It forwards email from bob@pobox.com to wherever you want, and it also does website forwarding. Not bad, it's about $15 / yr.

I'm thinking about subscibing to Anandtech. I don't know though.

Gamespy and stuff like that? Never, not in a million billion years. I'd pay to get rivazone back though.
 
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neomits

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2001
3,228
0
76
IGN and I'm checking out Gamespots free month to see if I want to continue their new service.

I've considered doing that split up the price of Fileplanet with someone... I think it'd even work with like 5-10 people... I mean how often are you really going to use it where you'd slow each other down. If anyone is kind a interested in spliting the cost PM me.
 
T

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,949
575
126
I have several 'free' subscriptions, I don't have any for-fee subscriptions, nor will I for entertainment purposes. If it were for professional or academic purposes, such a legal or medical library/archive for research, I would consider it, but not for things I do strictly for entertainment purposes.
The problem with that argument is that I don't pay $40/month for U.S. postal mailbox access. I do pay for the online access.
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention that, because I DO pay $40/month for a PO Box. However, you also don't get your 'mail' and 'magazines' delivered at the moment YOU want them delivered. The mail runs once a day, and you don't get to chose when that is. Not so with your internet access. There are plenty of 'free' ISP's you can use, but not in the unlimited capacity you enjoy for $40/month.

In addition, you and generations before DID pay for the costs of the entire US mail infrastructure, through taxes, before it was privatized. The internet backbone and infrastructure was largely funded by private money, not public. If we only had that portion funded by public money, internet capacity would be a shell of what it is today.
The problem really originated with the online advertising firms not treating online advertising like other advertising and paying accordingly. Instead of the cost based on CPM, it was based on clickthrough. What they fail to understand is that advertising on the internet isn't any different than traditional media, but because the clickthrough rates weren't there it was declared to be a bust business model. It was greed and stupidity that got us to this point.
Click to expand...
It was greed that gave us the "free" internet, however temporary it was. The internet advertising revenue was not and will never be a fraction of what they hoped. The current situation was inevitable, no matter what.

 

None.

12 years or so ago I went online because it was free.

Now everyone charges. Goodbye sweet, sweet underground.
 
C

coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
Zero, nada, nothing, nichts, n&oacute;-n&oacute;, no, not a single one!

And I will keep it that way!
(I didn't even know there is somthing to subscribe to at AT)
 
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