Why Are iPhone Users Willing to Pay for Content? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Saul Hansell’s latest post on the Bits blog points to the iPhone as a model in which users are happily willing to pay for content, and asks why this is the case. Personally, I think it has to do with assumptions related to the device you are using, and also with closed vs. open systems. By controlling a closed system (i.e. the phone and the app store), Apple has made the app store the only conduit through which you can get stuff on your phone (outside of the browser or jailbreaking). They have also, by storing your information, made purchasing as simple as possible and removed the thought process / hesitation that goes along with entering a credit card number — the “how much do I really want this?” moment. Also, devices and systems like iPhones and Kindles are establishing a paradigm where (so far) I expect to pay for content when using this kind of device. Similarly, people still pay for software because they have always paid for software (mostly). The Web evolved as a free-content model, so there is more of a barrier in getting people to pay for something, because they have to get past their expectation of free, open content and then have to be convinced not only of the worth of the content that you want them to purchase, but that there is no other content out there of equivalent use/quality that can be obtained for free.