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iCents is the first micropayment platform based mostly on the arguments against micropayments that have been raised over the last decade.

Since Clay Shirky has been the most vocal critic of micropayments, you may say iCents is, strangely enough, the first and only micropayment platform based (among others) on Shirky's very ideas. Please read our contribution to the discussion:

 

The New Case for Micropayments
A Micropayments Platform Based On Clay Shirky's Ideas, Among Others

 

 

If you are new to the discussion, we list below some of the most influential articles about micropayments, from 1996 to 2009. We don't agree with every argument made on them, and since the word "micropayments" itself has been defined in different terms by these authors, not all arguments apply.

But many of them do. iCents platform carefully addresses each and every problem presented, and has solved most of them. While problems still remain, we show where the limitations of our technology are, and what websites should and should not do to succeed when selling content.

Recent media about micropayments (2009):

Arguments against micropayments:

Nick Szabo ideas about consumer anxiety, the so-called "Mental Transaction Costs":

Clay Shirky's ideas about consumer anxiety, content aggregation, information monopoly and cognitive surplus.

Arguments defending micropayments:

Marc Glasberg:

Joel Fagin:

Scott McCloud:

Jakob Nielsen:

Interesting ideas that apply:

Nicholas Carr discusses with great accuracy the problem newspapers are facing:

This blog post helped establish the term "Freemium":

The real drive behind the culture of free:

 


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