Nano portal to set price with Dutch Auction
For 60 days we can all use the new nanotech portal Nanotechnology.com for free. After that, they’ll be conducting a Dutch Auction to set their subscription price. This is a gutsy thing to do, if carried out in a really transparent way.
Meanwhile, I’d appreciate hearing what you find useful on the site, or what you’d pay for regular access to it. —Christine [Update: Maybe it's not a portal. They call it a virtual Nanotech Conference.]
November 8th, 2005 at 7:09 PM
I like the idea of gathering these disparate nano portals under one tent. But Darrell is going to have a hard time making a paid subscription news content site work. The news industry has spent a decade trying to figure out how to do that profitably. The consensus is that it cannot. The sole exception is the Wall Street Journal. Salon.com tried it and failed, along with many others. Consumers of news expect content to be free. So, that’s the de facto rule in the news business. Revenue comes with premium features and advertisement — and then a lot of prayer that you’ll be swallowed up by a large media entity or a rich benefactor before you go belly up. Welcome to the news biz, Darrell!
Howard Lovy
November 9th, 2005 at 6:36 PM
Yes, that’s why I said that a transparent auction would be a gutsy thing to do…
–Christine