But, while naked pictures and music clog up the bandwidth, text the raw data humans have been using to communicate for millennia- draws literally hundreds of millions online. But the business of making money from words proves difficult on the Web. Content providers, eager to create a user community, offered their news for free, planning to cover their costs through advertising. And as the dotcom disaster demonstrates, there isn t enough to go around.
Subscription is a possible answer.
But readers, spoiled by all the free stuff, are unlikely to pay for content that they can probably find elsewhere. There are exceptions. Specifically those used to giving out money, such as the business community. Especially if you ve got the market credibility of a WSJ within that community. Of course, getting a finger in the corporate purse often leads to fiscal success.