Let Me Pay. Let Me Tip.

Dear Internet,

We’ve grown up together. We both sort of staked out on our own at the same time, we both discovered girls at the same time (heh), we both learned to appreciate absurdity together and we’ve gotten interested in business and thinking about the future and the social good with one another. It’s been great. I like you. We’re a product of the same culture, it seems.

But, I think there’s one area where I’ve grown up a bit faster than you have. As I get older, I respect the idea that not everything can be free. I have a desire to pay for things, internet, and through your obsession with free, you’re not letting me. I’m not sitting on an abundance of cash here, but I desire to really vote with my dollars. I want to use the tools on the internet, but I’d like to pay for them, thank you very much.

Really, websites, I understand the appeal of being the one to discover a new business model or a previously untapped way of monetizing us “users.” But, really, I’d just like a simple transaction: I’d like to pay Google $30 a year for a personal GMail account so I can get rid of ads and not have to worry about the sneaky privacy stuff going on in the background. I made a sigh of relief when I could pay for my Dropbox account, knowing that my dollars help to pay for the continued support and development of the software, and to do the recursive backup I want my data to have.

I get worried when I can’t pay for things. Maybe I’m in the minority here and you can dismissively shake your head at me. But, how do you plan on monetizing all of these internet ventures? Not everything is about monetizing, but if you’re running a business or creating or supporting a product, I suppose it is. Will you evaporate after the venture capital is gone? Will I be left high and dry? Or, will you do like I’ve seen lately, and compromise my privacy and sell off my information to make a buck? Why can’t I just pay? I’d feel better if a square, simple transaction were delineated so I could make a value judgement.

Now, I’m thankful for free. I love reading content online for free, but, can I tip you? Even if it’s just a buck or two? I understand there are incentives for individuals to free their content online for all to enjoy, but I’d like to provide a financial token of appreciation to authors, in much the same way I tip my barista when she takes care of me, says good morning, and explains a little bit about why all the racket when making my espresso. Where’s your tip jar? If you believe in free, who are you to turn down free money? I’d rather have a tip jar than a comment form.

So, internet, keep up the good work. There are wonderful things happening and I feel fortunate to have all of these services and this information and creative output at my fingertips. But, I’m leery, because I feel like Hanzel or Gretel being led to the candy house. It’s too good to be true, and I’m not sure if this is going to end with me being eaten alive.

Cordially,
Frank Chimero