OK, that didn't come out right, but you know what I mean. At least I hope you do. And with advertising drying up, they must now turn to you, dear reader, to provide the cash their venture capitalists won't give them anymore. Already, free Internet access seems to be gone, a number of free chat services have cratered, and we had a story yesterday about online data storage going to user fees. Music is shifting to a mostly fee-based model, a potential Waterloo for the record companies.
User fees give customers more control over the products and services they receive.
This is a new concept in Silicon Valley, so we'll have to see if it catches on. In reducing our choices, this shakeout will make it easier to pick a company we can expect to do business with for a long time. Although founded by the federal government, the Internet is not an entitlement program. We have no right to free stuff. And we are having to learn what it means to live without the handouts from the wealthy.