>Perhaps it'll take a generation or two dying off before we can come up with new business models that'll make this all irrelevant. I don't have the answers, but I really think that "don't use technology to do what it does best" is a very viable answer.
I'd be very afraid that "new business model" is that you have to watch an ad every 10 pages or books are only available through a subscription model of some sort--and they're only available through a SaaS.
I don't like that future either, but it sure seems like a lot of people do. It disturbs the heck out of me, but I have to consider that perhaps I'm just an out-of-touch oldster, too.
I'll keep buying physical articles as long as I can-- books, optical discs, etc. I'll reward creators who continue to make their works available that way. I'll buy a ticket when an author comes thru on a lecture tour. I'll attend a live concert and buy a shirt. (Admittedly, our current pandemic situation makes some of that difficult, but I do think it'll eventually pass, or we'll come up with new ways to do those things.) I've been reticent to enter into the patronage ecosystem (primarily because I'm concerned about the cut the middlemen take and the value they actually provide, as well as what the user experience is like) but I'm leaning more toward doing some of that too.
I'd be very afraid that "new business model" is that you have to watch an ad every 10 pages or books are only available through a subscription model of some sort--and they're only available through a SaaS.