Hi folks,
In recent months there's been some angst over the ads here on TRF, followed this week by the introduction of a paid model to remove the ads. Some of the concerns people have had have related to reluctance to pay for something that was free in the past, others rebelled against the ads being introduced apparently to support the introduction of an "ads removed by subscription" model. It doesn't really matter, as the days of TRF being a labor of love are gone and the new model is that it's part of a business. Time will tell how good it is for us as users and for Austin as proprietor. I lean toward the opinion of a viable business model being more sustainable than hobbies or labors of love.
Anyway, I paid for a subscription, less because I care about removing ads (adblock did it for me, and the current generation of ads on the mobile app aren't enough to get me up in arms), than I believe in supporting things I care about, and this community is one of them. I don't mind giving Austin some profit if he does a good job keeping up the site. I'll re-evaluate in a year.
This gets me thinking about other things that I pay for, because I feel like I get value out of them, rather than being required to pay for them to get the benefits. I'm interested to hear what all of you value enough to pay for it when you could have it for free. Here's my list:
1. NPR. A tiny bit of my tax money supports it, but I'm a $10/month sustaining member because I enjoy the programming on radio and TV, and want to support the less-commercial format it offers. I can hardly listen to commercial radio these days... my radio dial rarely strays from WFYI. I record Nova and watch other public TV programs, and while nobody would know if I didn't contribute, I do contribute because I want to do my part to make it continue.
2. MediaBrowser3. I use this as the platform for my home theater PC (HTPC). In my view it's the best HTPC software out there, and it has an ecosystem of free and paid software to go around it. The basic software (Server and PC client) are free for the downloading, as is use of the community forum. I contribute $20/year and get a supporter badge (which I don't care much about) and a few free software features (that I don't generally use), but I like the idea that I'm contributing to the existence and expansion of a piece of software I care about.
3. Other software with a freeware/contribute model: I've got about 10 programs that I could have used the functions I need for free, but I've paid one-time payments to contribute toward further development out of appreciation for the work already done, and hopes for continued refinement. These programs mostly avoid the "crapware installer" mess at time of installation. Much of it is stuff hosted on SourceForge, like Media Player Classic Home Cinema (the media player I use, which integrates well with Media Browser)
I've got to run to a family commitment, but these are some highlights of things I value enough to pay because I get value out of them, even if I don't have to pay to get the benefits.
So I turn it to you all. What do you value enough to pay for, when you don't have to?
Marc
In recent months there's been some angst over the ads here on TRF, followed this week by the introduction of a paid model to remove the ads. Some of the concerns people have had have related to reluctance to pay for something that was free in the past, others rebelled against the ads being introduced apparently to support the introduction of an "ads removed by subscription" model. It doesn't really matter, as the days of TRF being a labor of love are gone and the new model is that it's part of a business. Time will tell how good it is for us as users and for Austin as proprietor. I lean toward the opinion of a viable business model being more sustainable than hobbies or labors of love.
Anyway, I paid for a subscription, less because I care about removing ads (adblock did it for me, and the current generation of ads on the mobile app aren't enough to get me up in arms), than I believe in supporting things I care about, and this community is one of them. I don't mind giving Austin some profit if he does a good job keeping up the site. I'll re-evaluate in a year.
This gets me thinking about other things that I pay for, because I feel like I get value out of them, rather than being required to pay for them to get the benefits. I'm interested to hear what all of you value enough to pay for it when you could have it for free. Here's my list:
1. NPR. A tiny bit of my tax money supports it, but I'm a $10/month sustaining member because I enjoy the programming on radio and TV, and want to support the less-commercial format it offers. I can hardly listen to commercial radio these days... my radio dial rarely strays from WFYI. I record Nova and watch other public TV programs, and while nobody would know if I didn't contribute, I do contribute because I want to do my part to make it continue.
2. MediaBrowser3. I use this as the platform for my home theater PC (HTPC). In my view it's the best HTPC software out there, and it has an ecosystem of free and paid software to go around it. The basic software (Server and PC client) are free for the downloading, as is use of the community forum. I contribute $20/year and get a supporter badge (which I don't care much about) and a few free software features (that I don't generally use), but I like the idea that I'm contributing to the existence and expansion of a piece of software I care about.
3. Other software with a freeware/contribute model: I've got about 10 programs that I could have used the functions I need for free, but I've paid one-time payments to contribute toward further development out of appreciation for the work already done, and hopes for continued refinement. These programs mostly avoid the "crapware installer" mess at time of installation. Much of it is stuff hosted on SourceForge, like Media Player Classic Home Cinema (the media player I use, which integrates well with Media Browser)
I've got to run to a family commitment, but these are some highlights of things I value enough to pay because I get value out of them, even if I don't have to pay to get the benefits.
So I turn it to you all. What do you value enough to pay for, when you don't have to?
Marc