Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ We still need to unlock the web

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The question I have on reading this article is to ask whether what we need to "unlock" the web is another subscription-pay service. I mean, I like this article because it explores some of the new approaches being tried, linking us to new content like Casey Newton's Platformer and Ben Thompson's Stratechery, to services like Substack, which has, he says, "made starting and subscribing to paid newsletters incredibly easy," and to the recent of email newsletters in readers like NewsBlur, Feedbin and Feedly. But we know what happens, right? These content and service providers are acquired by larger companies or accept VC funding and find that their values begin to change when confronted with business imperatives. We saw it with the initial wave of e-zines like Slate and ZDNet and C|Net. We're seeing it now with enclosure of podcasting. Why would this be any different?

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 19, 2024 7:53 p.m.

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