> Here is one - the alternative to ads everyone proposes is people pay for their content directly. Except there are catastrophic barriers to entry for such a business model
Not really. Sure, that's an alternate that people propose, but not one I think will ever take off. And honestly, I don't care. I think the "funded" web has a lot of potential, but it has just ended up squandered.
> ...but that model doesn't align with western shareholder-value driven markets at all.
So? I don't really care about that market. For a long time people made software without being paid. I write free (as in beer and speech) software in my spare time. It's cheaper than ever to run your own server. I don't view the "western shareholder-value" market as valuable to the internet as your making it out to be.
Not really. Sure, that's an alternate that people propose, but not one I think will ever take off. And honestly, I don't care. I think the "funded" web has a lot of potential, but it has just ended up squandered.
> ...but that model doesn't align with western shareholder-value driven markets at all.
So? I don't really care about that market. For a long time people made software without being paid. I write free (as in beer and speech) software in my spare time. It's cheaper than ever to run your own server. I don't view the "western shareholder-value" market as valuable to the internet as your making it out to be.