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Flattr - I want to give you my money

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Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#51

Post by limmeau »

citricsquid wrote: post #3

Flattr is "failing" (failing as in, failing to gain substantial traction) because of lack of users. Notch (of Minecraft fame) used Flattr for a long time on his blog and he removed it because he made so very little off it, even though he has a very high traffic blog. They shot themselves in the foot when they launched the service: a "private beta". It was the most ridiculous idea ever , here is a service that NEEDS e…

Perhaps that's a regional thing? A subjective majority of the German blogs I read regularly have a flattr button.

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#52

Post by StavrosK »

citricsquid wrote: post #10
StavrosK wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In their defense, artificial scarcity can drive buzz for the product a lot, if done well. Also, a service that's not yet done can't afford to launch to the public, especially when there's money involved. Rather than think about launching in beta vs launching publicly, think about launching in beta vs launching much later. Which is the better choice?

In the case of Flattr? The latter would have been much more beneficial for them. I wanted to sign up to give them my money, to improve the value of their service (the value for content providers is the amount of users) and I had to "apply" and wait for it. Everything about that is wrong for Flattr.

So it would be better for flattr if you weren't even aware of their existence, rather than know about them and be unable to sign up? I don't believe that...

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#53

Post by zachbeane »

zachbeane wrote: post #26
usaar333 wrote: post #25

I love how immediately following: "It is an incredibly simple process and there is no downside." is: "The minimum amount of money needed to continue use of Flattr is €2 (about $3) each month"

Another fun feature, from the FAQ: Can I disable/inactivate my account? - No. As long as there's money in your means account, these will be used each month. When they run out your account will be deactived until you add more funds. I signed up thinking Flattr was a way for people to pay me who hate paypal. It turns out it's not anything like that, at all. But there's no way to immediately get off Flattr and close my…

I was wrong about this; further along in the FAQ there's an entry about "deleting" the account. I stopped reading after the "disable" question, not realizing there was a difference.

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#54

Post by cabalamat »

cabalamat wrote: post #29
donofrip wrote: post #7

I don't completely think that this is an execution issue. Do we really think there is a large market out there for "flattr-ing" blogs and other sites? I don't know how many people would pay for/donate to something they're getting for free. Something about not buying a cow when you're getting milk for free comes to mind...

Flattr would work better if it did more stuff. For example, if there was an API allowing any Flattr user to pay an amount into any other Flattr user's account. This would probably involve issues with banking regulations, however.

Can someone explain why this was downvoted? It seems a reasonable comment to me.

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#55

Post by flattr_intern »

Handling money requires a stable and trusted service which is why it would have been a bad idea not having a closed beta to test it out properly before released. The problem with handling money is that there is a lot of legal issues around it.

@cabalamat there is already an API that community has used to create a lot of cool stuff with: https://flattr.com/support/plugins Hoping to see many more though so if you have good ideas feel free to hack away:) Donating specific sums can already be done to other Flattr users via their profile page.

We're actively working on getting Flattr more accessible and available to "flattr everything". Big changes happening in a few days! http://blog.flattr.net/2011/04/flattr-reloads-the-cannons/

/josef (@flattr_intern)

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#56

Post by rudasn »

jacques_chester wrote: post #5

I think that the Contenture/Readability model is probably the most likely to succeed. I'm biased, of course, having dreamt up the same basic model circa 2008. When I learned about Kachingle (similar model with an opt-in step), I pretty much threw a wobbly and gave up on the idea. But I've taken from Facebook the idea that first to market doesn't always win, even if they have what seems like insurmountable network val…

That's cool. My thesis was on a project very similar to flattr - voluntary payments (not donations). This was in 2006/07, a few months before flattr opened for beta users, and was really existed to see it happen.

It didn't come up during an interview though :|

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#57

Post by jacques_chester »

rudasn wrote: post #56
jacques_chester wrote: post #5

I think that the Contenture/Readability model is probably the most likely to succeed. I'm biased, of course, having dreamt up the same basic model circa 2008. When I learned about Kachingle (similar model with an opt-in step), I pretty much threw a wobbly and gave up on the idea. But I've taken from Facebook the idea that first to market doesn't always win, even if they have what seems like insurmountable network val…

That's cool. My thesis was on a project very similar to flattr - voluntary payments (not donations). This was in 2006/07, a few months before flattr opened for beta users, and was really existed to see it happen. It didn't come up during an interview though :|

> voluntary payments (not donations)

What's the difference?

> It didn't come up during an interview though :|

They keep warning me this will be the case. Lies. Lies and slander!

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#58

Post by sgornick »

markkat wrote: post #12

HN could allow us to put a flattr link in our submissions. I've done it for my site, crickets so far... There is a similar service for Bitcoin that I am thinking about adding. That might be more interesting.

Are you referring to http://Witcoin.com which is like a HN where every time you upvote or reply, the poster gets commission?

Or are you referring to YouTipIt.org which is fairly close to a Flattr except for using bitcoins instead?

Re: Flattr - I want to give you my money

#59

Post by rudasn »

jacques_chester wrote: post #57
rudasn wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cool. My thesis was on a project very similar to flattr - voluntary payments (not donations). This was in 2006/07, a few months before flattr opened for beta users, and was really existed to see it happen. It didn't come up during an interview though :|

> voluntary payments (not donations) What's the difference? > It didn't come up during an interview though :| They keep warning me this will be the case. Lies. Lies and slander!

The way I see it:

You donate blood and you donate to a charity. You pay for music and you pay for books. When you donate you don't expect to get something back in return. When you pay you expect something back.

Even though no one is forcing you to give in either case the mental model is a quite different. For example, as a musician I want people to pay me because they enjoy my music not because they feel that I need the money. As a listener I will pay someone if I enjoy their music - I don't really care about the financial status of the musician.

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