return of the micropayments...

Grok Headline matches for return of the micropayments...

Micropayments Going Mainstream? Not Yet

Micropayments Going Mainstream? Not Yet 01/11/2004 09:24 PM
Slashdot Jan 11 2004 8:16PM ET

Successful micropayments?

Successful micropayments? 11/10/2003 11:34 PM
Maybe micropayments can be successful. BitPass seems to have at least a decent collection of merchants. I posted about Peppercoin...

The Next Attempt At Micropayments

The Next Attempt At Micropayments 11/17/2003 03:08 PM
Stop me if you've heard this one before... Suddenly, new micropayment technologies are hot, and everyone is talking about the billions of dollars that could be made by selling content for just a little bit of money. All of these estimates use silly math. They talk about how a large number of little transactions adds up to a large number. That may be true, but it makes a huge, unstated, assumption: that there will be a large number of transactions. Notice that the article linked here never looks at things from the consumer side to see if people actually want to be nickeled and dimed for every piece of content they find online. There may be some places where micropayment fees will work - but it's going to be difficult to make significant money that way. First off, people pay money to get online because they want to access content. If everything is going behind a paid wall, suddenly they feel like they're getting double-billed. Why do they need to pay to get online if there's nothing there? Furthermore, each bit of "paid content" competes with free content. Admittedly, if the blocked off content is very very good or comes with some other advantages, some people will pay for it. However, the vast majority of folks will hunt out a "good enough" substitute that they can find for free. Also, the article completely ignores the important comparison that content providers need to make if they're going to block off content. It talks about the potential to make money off of micropayments, but that's a useless number by itself. The important point is whether or not they can make more from micropayments than they could from offering free content supported by some other business model? I can see plenty of content providers jumping on this bandwagon because they haven't been able to figure out how to properly create an online site that makes money - but they may discover that it doesn't do them very much good. There is some content for which micropayments will work - but it's a very limited set - and most content providers aren't going to think this out before throwing up a paid wall.

The March Towards Micropayments

The March Towards Micropayments 06/28/2004 11:16 PM

Micropayments Going Mainstream? Not Yet.

Micropayments Going Mainstream? Not Yet. 01/11/2004 04:53 PM
DotEdu writes "Today's NY Times has an interesting article on two new micropayment companies, BitPass and Peppercoin, and the venerable PayPal. More ...

Debating Micropayments

Debating Micropayments 06/09/2004 02:03 PM
Clay Shirky got a lot of attention last year for his essay on why micropayments don't work - focusing mainly on the addition of "mental transaction costs" as an additional cost above and beyond the monetary micropayment cost. Not everyone has agreed (especially those involved with micropayment companies). Vin Crosbie has now chimed in to explain why Shirky is wrong about micropayments by saying that the mental transactions of micropayments don't always need to stop the transaction. As an example, he points out that people pay for water, telephone calls and electricity in micropayment fashion and never seem too bothered by it. This is true - but what's missing is that in all three cases these are both necessities and there are (or, in the case of telephone, were) no other options for providers. When there's no competition, you can charge and people will accept it - especially if it's a basic necessity. However, when competition does come about, the pricing starts to drop, and the idea of additional fees-per-transaction start to go away. Witness what is happening with the telephone industry. With the rise of VoIP systems, almost all telecom companies in the US are now offering some sort of flat-rate deal where there are no micropayments for each transaction. In the case of undifferentiated content, where there are plenty of other content providers online (with the possible exception of very specialized content), it will be very difficult to charge any form of micropayment.

Have Micropayments Arrived For Real?

Have Micropayments Arrived For Real? 11/02/2003 06:32 PM
Maybe this time, as the Net matures, it's genuinely worth a try. By Dan Gillmor (San Jose Mercury News via MyAppleMenu)

Google Wallet More About Micropayments
For Content?

Google Wallet More About Micropayments
For Content? 06/22/2005 02:17 AM
There's been a ton of buzz over the idea that Google was working on a PayPal competitor, and it appears that Eric Schmidt and "the powers that be" at Google finally thought it was worth speaking to the press on the matter. In discussing the Google Wallet concept, we did note that it came days after rumors of a Google iTunes-like offering as well, and that actually might tie into what Google is working on. Earlier today, there was increasing speculation that Google was more interested in a system to deliver micropayments for content than direct person-to-person financial transactions -- and that seems to be more along the lines of what Google is admitting to. While not clearly laid out, Schmidt did say that the solution they were working on wasn't really a PayPal competitor, but more of an extension of existing programs. Many people have been saying that it's likely an extension of the payment system they use for handling their paid search ad program, but extending it out to other types of content. This would also fit with Google's new video storage offering, which promised to allow people to charge for the content that people downloaded. While less surprising, this is still a bit disappointing. Micropayments seem to go in and out of fashion every few years, but never actually seem to catch on, mainly because not only do they add a monetary expense, but they have a mental transaction cost in making people stop and think about whether or not it's worth purchasing. That cost is much more expensive than most people think. Also, any micropayment-based system always leaves itself open to competitors who realize that it's going to be much more effective to give the content away, and make money elsewhere.

PayPal Slashes Micropayments Fees

PayPal Slashes Micropayments Fees 12/09/2003 07:18 AM
SiliconValley.Internet.com Dec 9 2003 6:37AM ET

MicroPayments and Credit Cards - Game On

MicroPayments and Credit Cards - Game On 06/29/2004 07:09 PM
"...because of a patent-pending method of lumping together individual transactions into one transaction to reduce the cost to the merchant."

Internet & micropayments market to grow
23%

Internet & micropayments market to grow
23% 08/13/2004 05:12 AM
inSourced Aug 13 2004 9:43AM GMT

A penny for your bits: micropayments to
make a comeback?

A penny for your bits: micropayments to
make a comeback? 11/18/2003 05:33 PM
Considered to be holy grail of paid web content, micropayments may be finally ready for prime time

Digital content spurs micropayments
resurgence

Digital content spurs micropayments
resurgence 09/07/2004 06:38 AM
A growing appetite for digital content helps companies that enable small-ticket online transactions.

Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free
Content

Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free
Content 01/07/2004 02:53 PM
Micropayments, small digital payments of between a quarter and a fraction of a penny, made (yet another) appearance this summer with Scott McCloud's online comic, The Right Number, accompanied by predictions of a rosy future for micropayments. To read The Right Number, you have to sign up for the BitPass micropayment system; once you have an account, the comic itself costs 25 cents.

BitPass will fail, as FirstVirtual, Cybercoin, Millicent, Digicash, Internet Dollar, Pay2See, and many others have in the decade since Digital Silk Road, the paper that helped launch interest in micropayments. These systems didn't fail because of poor implementation; they failed because the trend towards freely offered content is an epochal change, to which micropayments are a pointless response.

The failure of BitPass is not terribly interesting in itself. What is interesting is the way the failure of micropayments, both past and future, illustrates the depth and importance of putting publishing tools in the hands of individuals. In the face of a force this large, user-pays schemes can't simply be restored through minor tinkering with payment systems, because they don't address the cause of that change -- a huge increase the power and reach of the individual. - More at http://www.shirky.com/writings/fame_vs_fortune.html

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Gateway 2 Russia Apr 16 2004 6:26AM GMT

Return to Return of the King

Return to Return of the King 01/25/2004 09:30 AM
(I just blogged this at BlogCritics.org) We went to see Return of the King for the second time last night because our 13-year-old wanted to see it for his third time. My pre-VCR generation has trouble being entertained by a movie more than once, but there are exceptions. Lord of the Rings is one: Giant trolls, gargantuan elephants, catapults firing heads, fierce bad guys with faces made out of cookie dough, fire-tipped battering rams, stirring music, flying dragons, all in one scene. What more do you want in a movie? Even though it was my second time, I still...

Return of the Mac.

Return of the Mac. 03/29/2005 08:39 PM
Paul Graham: Return of the Mac. A bit late, but I always like to see a new convert.

9 Tax Return Changes

9 Tax Return Changes 01/23/2004 02:23 PM
Use the wrong form, and you may miss out on deductions and credits.

Return of the Mac

Return of the Mac 03/29/2005 03:10 PM

No return to IT's ice age

No return to IT's ice age 03/29/2005 04:43 PM
ZDNet Mar 29 2005 8:17PM GMT

Return-Value-1.28

Return-Value-1.28 01/06/2005 05:51 PM

Return of The Art of .war

Return of The Art of .war 03/14/2005 04:48 PM

Patrick Peak's been off writing Hibernate Quickly for Manning, but now he's back with a slick new Roller theme. He's written a nice couple of posts attempting to debunk some of the Ruby hysteria that's been infecting Java bloggers of late.

The Return of S3

The Return of S3 12/21/2003 10:43 PM

Return-Value-1.1

Return-Value-1.1 07/15/2004 05:04 PM

Brief Return

Brief Return 08/19/2004 12:08 AM
I'm back! For a moment, as a demo to school librarians in MLS. Hi, School Librarians in MLS!  :-)

Return-Value-1.22

Return-Value-1.22 08/31/2004 12:44 AM

Return-Value-1.24

Return-Value-1.24 09/23/2004 10:39 AM

They will return

They will return 10/30/2003 09:15 AM
It's the Cthulhu songbook. Time to go a-carrolling in the neighbourhood with these catchy tunes. Who could resist a rousing chorus of The Great old ones are coming to town? Or maybe you fancy the more traditional Carol of the old ones? So lets get those songbooks out and make it a very merry Cthulhu solstice.< /a>

The Return of Chuckie

The Return of Chuckie 07/21/2004 01:08 PM
Charles Schwab returns to the CEO's desk at, er, Charles Schwab. Bill Mann has the word.

The return of the 'free' PC

The return of the 'free' PC 12/15/2003 05:58 AM
IBM to supply 200k PCs

Return of the son of Linkmania

Return of the son of Linkmania 03/17/2005 04:07 AM
Milton Glaser on film. Davezilla on Chevrolet. Dichendorf's free validation product for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows XP. American Illustrator is looking for people who like to draw. Old browsers never die. Rejoice! [Updated with extra link juice.]

"What NOT to do during "Return of the
King.""

"What NOT to do during "Return of the
King."" 12/31/2003 09:40 PM

The return of the Internet

The return of the Internet 12/24/2003 12:38 AM
Salon Dec 24 2003 0:02AM ET

The return of the manifesto

The return of the manifesto 08/17/2004 09:17 AM
A new site's recently launched called ChangeThis which hopes to, "challenge the way ideas are created and spread." They propose to do this by creating and disseminating manifestos on various topics of interest and importance. We're betting that a significant portion of the population wants to hear thoughtful, rational, constructive arguments about important issues. We're certain that the best of these manifestos will spread, hand to hand, person to person, until these manifestos have reached a critical mass and actually changed the tone and substance of our debate. I've been a fan of manifestos for a long time, and Kill Your Children (about the dangers of sugar) was very interesting. But I can't help but wonder why all the manifestos they offer are Adobe PDF files. They certainly look beautiful -- nice colors and font treatments -- but they're kind of a pain because you have to download them and launch another program to view them. It seems to me that if the goal is to spread the manifestos, they should be presented in the easiest-to-spread manner possible, like plain text or HTML. Great manifestos of the past (Communist, Cluetrain) were about substance. They didn't look great, but they spread like crazy. That's not to say a nice looking manifesto won't also spread, of course, but I believe they won't spread as effectively because of the additional hurdles to read and distribute them. All told, I still look forward to seeing how it progresses and what topics they chose to address. It's an optimistic endeavor, and I love optimistic endeavors! [via evhead]

Return of the Fans

Return of the Fans 12/17/2003 07:21 AM
The last time I stood in line for more than an hour for movie tickets was for The Empire...

Return of the TV Wristwatch

Return of the TV Wristwatch 06/04/2004 10:40 AM

Return Of The Tech IPO

Return Of The Tech IPO 12/18/2003 02:13 PM
There have been a bunch of similar articles lately, but it appears that tech IPOs are starting to heat up. Most of the IPOs that are going out (and the pace is increasing) seem to be doing well (though, Orbitz was a bit of a clunker). More and more companies are at least lining up to go public next year. The profiles, though, are a bit different than they were in the boom years, and look a lot more like what a typical IPO should look like: a profitable company that has a long enough track record to understand where the business appears to be heading. These are less speculative IPOs and more expansion IPOs, which seems healthier. Meanwhile, the biggest hitter on the IPO bench is, of course, Google, who may be timing their IPO with the presidential election season, noting that (surprise, surprise) the economy seems to get a lift during election years.

Return to vendors

Return to vendors 06/28/2004 08:01 AM
Personal Computer World Jun 28 2004 11:49AM GMT

The Return Of Celebrity VCs

The Return Of Celebrity VCs 06/15/2004 06:24 PM
During the boom years, when venture capitalists were the new rockstars of the dot com era, we began to see the rise of "celebrity VCs." It was especially popular for former sports stars to jump into the venture investing business - even if they had no real business background or knowledge. Most of these VC firms didn't get very far, especially once the bubble popped. Now, however, as business seems to be picking up again, it looks like the celebrity VC may be back. The latest to throw his hat into the venture investing ring is U2 frontman Bono, who is joining the newly created Elevation Partners to invest in media and entertainment businesses. The other partners in the firm (Roger McNamee, John Riccitiello, Fred Anderson and others) all have a bit more experience, so you have to wonder if the Bono move is just to get them some more attention as they launch - or if Bono will really be taking meetings up on Sandhill Road with startups begging for money. It's a little unclear from the wording of the article exactly what Bono's role will be. Either way, it appears that Elevation isn't starting small. The rumor mill suggests they're looking for their initial fund to be a billion dollar fund.
Grok Description matches for return of the micropayments...
GrokA matches for return of the micropayments...

Review: Canon Optura 60

Review: Canon Optura 60 06/17/2005 04:34 PM
The Optura 60 shoots excellent video (provided you have enough light), snaps decent still images, and offers a full range of creative flexibility, making it a solid choice.

Canon Optura 60 (4.0 Mice) Best Current Price: $624.95 (via ProductFinder)

Review: Canon ZR400

Review: Canon ZR400 06/17/2005 04:33 PM
The Canon ZR400 is compact and simple to operate, making it a good choice for recording family fun, but don’t expect the still images to take the place of a dedicated digital camera.

Canon ZR400 (3.5 Mice) Best Current Price: $379.99 (via ProductFinder)

Review: Canon PowerShot SD400

Review: Canon PowerShot SD400 06/17/2005 04:34 PM
The 5-megapixel Canon PowerShot SD400 is 1.5 ounces lighter than the 7.1-megapixel SD500, but otherwise offers very similar features. Like its slightly larger sibling, the SD400 is a pocketable point-and-shooter that takes excellent pictures.

Canon PCanon PowerShot SD400 (4.0 Mice) Best Current Price: $275.00 (via ProductFinder)

Review: Canon Ink-Jet Photo Printers

Review: Canon Ink-Jet Photo Printers 02/05/2005 09:19 PM
Canon has released a pair of color ink-jet photo printers that are similar in technology but target somewhat different markets. The Pixma iP8500 delivers fine-quality prints no larger than letter size. The i9900 also prints well, and it can produce prints as large as 13 by 19 inches. Spending time with these two printers revealed more similarities than differences in color quality, but variations in the way they operate will determine which model better suits your needs.

Dealtime Agrees to Buy Epinions

Dealtime Agrees to Buy Epinions 03/12/2003 01:46 AM
They hoped to ride a wave of enthusiasm created by an initial offering of Google, the big search engine, which is expected to go public sometime later this year ...

DealTime buying Epinions

DealTime buying Epinions 03/12/2003 02:50 AM
DealTime, which quietly purchased Shopping.com from CMGI last year, has acquired Epinions for stock.

VCs Turn On Epinions Lawsuit Participant

VCs Turn On Epinions Lawsuit Participant 02/05/2005 09:48 PM
The venture capital industry is known for being a bit clubby, but a bit of dirty laundry is airing out these days. We'd already covered the slightly odd lawsuit filed by some Epinions founders against their investors. It seems like an odd sort of lawsuit -- especially from a bunch of guys who claimed they knew the ins and outs of Silicon Valley (that was part of their early "story"). Anyway, a couple of the people participating in the lawsuit are now venture capitalists themselves, and the clubby community appears to be turning against them. Silicon Beat points to a story saying that one of the lawsuit participants has been kicked out of the VC firm he worked for, and it includes quotes from others basically saying that he'll never get or work in VC again. That seems a bit extreme, but it's interesting to see how quickly the VC community is responding.

Macworld review: Flash MX 2004

Macworld review: Flash MX 2004 12/30/2003 03:57 AM
With Flash MX 2004, Macromedia has extended the functionality of previous versions, and released a Professional edition with some exciting new features for power users, albeit at a cost: sluggish performance.

10 Way Flash Memory Drive Review

10 Way Flash Memory Drive Review 06/03/2004 12:22 PM

If you thought all Yet Another Flash Drives were the same, leave it to Ars Technica to prove you (us) wrong with a hugely informative (if pedantic) review of 10 different USB 2.0 Hi-speed flash memory drives, with benchmarks, read/write tests, and even an experiment involving two flash drives and RAID 0. It's a great place to start if you're interested in any of the drives, with include units from PNY, SanDisk, Mushkin, SimpleTech, FujiFilm (a write-speed beast), Verbatim, Transcend (the overall winner), and Iomega (who did very well all around).
Read [ArsTechnica]

Macworld review: Flash-memory MP3
Players

Macworld review: Flash-memory MP3
Players 05/26/2004 09:03 AM
When Apple's iPod burst onto the scene, many people who previously hadn't thought about buying an MP3 player snapped to attention. Flash-memory–based players had been fairly inexpensive but very frustrating to use with Macs. Now the hard-drive–based iPod and iPod mini are the best-selling MP3 players on the market. Given this new context, we decided it was time to look at the alternatives, for people who are on a tight budget and who just want to use a player at the gym or during a commute, and not for storing a huge music collection.

Ars Technica review: USB 2.0 Hi-speed
Flash drives

Ars Technica review: USB 2.0 Hi-speed
Flash drives 06/03/2004 05:26 AM
Ars Technica takes a look at 8 different USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Flash drives. Are they commodity products, or are there enough differences to make shopping around worthwhile?

Review of SanDisk's Compact Flash WiFi
card

Review of SanDisk's Compact Flash WiFi
card 03/13/2003 10:20 AM

PocketPCThoughts review of SanDisk's Compact Flash 802.11b card for adding WiFi to PDAs. Also comes with an adapter so it can be used with laptops.
Read

Simple Talent 512MB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Review

Simple Talent 512MB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Review 06/25/2004 11:57 AM

Crucial Gizmo! Hi-Speed 512MB USB Flash
Drive review @ XtremeResources

Crucial Gizmo! Hi-Speed 512MB USB Flash
Drive review @ XtremeResources 04/11/2005 05:54 AM

Delivering Flash Video: Dynamic
Bandwidth Detection with Flash
Communication Server

Delivering Flash Video: Dynamic
Bandwidth Detection with Flash
Communication Server 12/17/2004 06:35 PM
Download sample code and directions for delivering streaming video at target bandwidths for individual users.

All-in-one tool to build Flash websites,
Flash intros, slide-shows and more.

All-in-one tool to build Flash websites,
Flash intros, slide-shows and more. 07/18/2004 02:20 AM
One-click Flash website and intro builder. [PRWEB Jul 18, 2004]

Tenmiles Launches Flash Wallpaper -
Brings Flash to Desktops

Tenmiles Launches Flash Wallpaper -
Brings Flash to Desktops 06/03/2004 02:00 AM
Promises to revolutionize desktop use [PRWEB Jun 3, 2004]

Developing and Adapting Flash Games for
Flash Lite

Developing and Adapting Flash Games for
Flash Lite 12/17/2004 06:35 PM
Find out how easy it is to develop Flash games and port them to play on mobile phones through Flash Lite 1.1.

Create Flash effects fast--without Flash

Create Flash effects fast--without Flash 10/28/2003 11:08 PM
CNET Oct 28 2003 1:52AM ET

Newer, Smaller Flash Cards: C-Flash

Newer, Smaller Flash Cards: C-Flash 03/14/2005 06:03 PM

Pretec Electronics Corporation, apparently unaware that more than eight competing formats already exist in this market, has developed a new flash memory card called the C-Flash. Smaller than a dime, Pretec seems to be gambling on the "hope your customers lose your product and don't learn from their mistakes" business model. Cards with capacities up to 1GB will be available by June, and they're sampling them in mobile phones, which is just about the only place I'd want to see one. Honestly, though, there comes a point (perhaps when you require magnification equipment) when it's just too small. A note to these companies with the perpetual smaller-is-better mentalities: Just because I might one day be able to carry all of my media collection as well as the Library of Congress on a card the size of an eyelash doesn't mean I'll want to, dig?

While on the topic of Flash Memory formats, now seems like a good time to mention LIVEdigitally's Flash Card roundup, wherein they break down the Flash Jungle into small, manageable pieces.

New Flash Memory Card Smaller Than Dime [TheRawFeed]
Flash Card Memory Roundup [LIVEdigitally]

The Flash Anthology - Chapter 1: Flash
Essentials

The Flash Anthology - Chapter 1: Flash
Essentials 07/29/2004 10:07 PM
WebmasterBase Jul 30 2004 1:16AM GMT

Flash point for Flash animation

Flash point for Flash animation 04/07/2005 03:45 PM
Macromedia beefs up visuals and mobile features for its animation software. Also: Why some people see Flash as the enemy.

Flash is Hookin' Up: Web Forms with
Flash

Flash is Hookin' Up: Web Forms with
Flash 08/08/2002 07:53 AM

Drawing in Flash: A Beginner's
Introduction to the Flash MX 2004
Drawing Tools

Drawing in Flash: A Beginner's
Introduction to the Flash MX 2004
Drawing Tools 09/24/2004 08:03 PM
Take a guided tour through the Flash Tools panel as you draw a simple illustration.

Speedera and Macromedia Unveil Secure
Flash Video Delivery; Customers Can Now
Monetize Macromedia Flash Video

Speedera and Macromedia Unveil Secure
Flash Video Delivery; Customers Can Now
Monetize Macromedia Flash Video 04/18/2005 08:24 AM
Business Wire UK Apr 18 2005 11:55AM GMT

Canon TV

Canon TV 12/04/2003 11:59 AM
First Gateway, then Dell and HP, now Canon is jumping into the flat panel television business. They're starting a joint venture with Toshiba to build surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (yeah, we'd never heard of this either). The first Canon SED TVs should hit stores in 2005. Read...

Canon Goes Wi-Fi

Canon Goes Wi-Fi 09/22/2004 12:34 PM
Following Nikon's lead, Cannon introduced a new camera that supports an 802.11g adaptor: This professional-grade camera runs for $8,000. Nikon recently introduced its second Wi-Fi capable camera that now supports 802.11g. For the non-professionals in the crowd, Concord Camera will soon introduce a camera with an 802.11g adaptor that may cost a bit less....

El canon de las bibliotecas

El canon de las bibliotecas 02/07/2005 01:28 AM

El canon del miedo

El canon del miedo 10/30/2003 11:57 PM

"The new Canon 20D has been launched"

"The new Canon 20D has been launched" 08/18/2004 02:52 PM

return of the micropayments...

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