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New site feature: comment response notificationsNew site feature: comment response notificationsPosted Feb 3, 2004 17:56 UTC (Tue) by lutchann (subscriber, #8872)Parent article: New site feature: comment response notifications Since the main benefit to paying is getting premium content seven days early, why not implement a bit of the wait time for starving hackers? Say, a 24-hour delay before making premium content available to them. This wouldn't be much of a hardship for the starving hackers, and it would make full subscribers feel like they were getting something in exchange for their extra money.
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New site feature: comment response notifications Posted Feb 4, 2004 7:25 UTC (Wed) by massimiliano (subscriber, #3048) [Link] This is really funny...I fully support the idea of differentiating between levels, but I never, ever considered to choose an upper level of subscription because I would receive something more, I did it only because I felt it was the right thing to do. I mean, the levels seemed designed so that everybody could contribute according to his/her possibilities, so I accepted this, and choose a level according to my possibilities. I never tought that a "professional hacker" would choose the "starving hacker" level just for convenience. But maibe I'm just too idealist... Anyway, given the current state of things, this small differentiation seems a very good (and well balanced) idea... really smart ;-)
New site feature: comment response notifications Posted Feb 6, 2004 13:57 UTC (Fri) by jbh (subscriber, #494) [Link] I agree and I don't mind missing out on this feature. I am currently studying and while not exactly starving I do have to economise a bit.However I've thought about it a bit and I think perhaps this will make me less, not more, likely to upgrade when I get a job again. Without the differentiation, it would be a matter of conscience; the right thing to do, as you said. The more differentiation the more it feels like "you get what you pay for" -- ie. it feels more acceptable to pay less because I also get less. I know others feel differently, but I think there is a chance it can cut both ways.
Ordinary money-for-service exchange, agreed Posted Feb 7, 2004 15:39 UTC (Sat) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link] > I think perhaps this will make me less, not more.> likely to upgrade[.] Without the differentiation, it > would be a matter of conscience; the right thing to do, > as you said. The more differentiation the more it feels > like [an ordinary exchange of money for services]. From a "pro" subscriber that just renewed for another year, I must say I agree. When I took out my initial subscription, it was at the "starving" level because that was all my budget could handle at the time. However, I purposefully made it a shorter than normal subscription so I'd need to reevaluate in three months or so when I thought I'd not be so cash strapped, and so it was. When I did so, as expected, I had that bit of extra cash and upped my level to pro. That was a bit over a year ago, and as I said, I just renewed at the pro level, all with no difference between levels. Now, this feature is a useful one, and I don't begrudge LWN the idea of different tiers of service for the different levels. However, it DOES make it seem more "commercial", like going to the store and purchasing bread or something, not something I can be proud of supporting at a level above the bare minimum, just for the sake of it. Thus, the next time the subscription renewal comes up, if this trend continues, I'm far more likely to consider it and eveluate it as just another bill, with the pleasure of supporting a publication I believe it gone. Whether I'll downgrade to starving again, or not, I don't know, but I'll not be as likely to upgrade, certainly, and MIGHT just decide there are more effective ways to spend my money altogether, on a straight money-for-personal-service level, since I'm often to busy to read LWN anyway. The new feature, tho, IS appreciated and could be fairly useful. We'll see how it goes. You know.. I think perhaps the 24-hour delay thing mentioned by others for "starving" might be better for level differenciation, if LWN is going to go that way, and make this available to all subscribers. Then, perhaps another $1.25/mo "paid registered" level.. Yearly billed only, and an option available to the $2.50 level and above to filter out the "unpaid" comments. That would probably cut down on the junk posts we get to a few threads, now. Taking that further, allow folks on the "leader" level and above the ability to filter out specific poster's comments.. One other related thought.. Add my vote to the open sourcing the code thing. I'm not to the point where I'd likely contribute to it myself, but it just doesn't seem "right" for a beacon of the "open source" community to have their source closed, and that's what we have now.. Duncan
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