Five ¢ents

Clay Shirkey puts forward an impressive and well-argued essay on why the essential economics surrounding newspapers has irreversibly shifted, and why no existing models adequately fill the gap.

His central premise revolves around the high costs of print distribution, and how today’s all-too-easy-to-share environment changes the nature of both information dissemination and consumption.*

Even if you think you’ve heard these arguments before, this essay is a must-read.

Separately, he’s also recently written about why newspapers aren’t like iTunes, and why micropayments seem destined to fail.

* For more on how these changes have affected us throughout history, read Alex Wright’s Glut.