Can I Pay Please?

Dalton Caldwell wrote about his new project at App.net. In introducing the need for a paid service he laments he novel this sounds today:

Why isn’t there an opportunity to pay money to get an ad-free feed from a company where the product is something you pay for, not, well, you. To be clear: I’m glad there are ad-supported options, but why does that seem like the only option? For example, I have the option of buying a Mac if I don’t want to buy a crapware-infested PC, right? I have no interest in completely opting-out of the social web. But please, I want a real alternative to advertising hell… I would gladly pay for a service that treats me better.

What a refreshing point of view. Free isn’t evil, but it certainly isn’t comforting to know that many of the services we know and love are not in business to please us. They are in business to please advertisers, their true customers. I am very intrigued by for-pay alternatives to most of these things. I have not backed the project yet, but I am considering it very seriously.