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I mean, *do* people happily pay $15/qtr for a printed magazine?

Isn't technical knowledge a meaningful barrier to entry?

Should "value" solely be defined by amount people will pay for something? (cf. cultural impact, maybe)

In my mind, a lot of the value in text that's printed has to do with how I approach consuming print differently.

I handwrite letters to people that I also message online, and look forward to responses in both media. Does printed text feel more personal even when an artifact of mechanical reproduction?

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~uirapuru wrote (thread):

Expanding a bit on what ~maya said. I think it is largely a cultural factor, physical media feels like more care was put into it, which is not necessarily true, there are many renditions that are only possible in digital form and which require a lot of zeal and effort, but perceptions are hard to change. I think this is similar to the case of listening to vinyl records, you can say whatever you wish about analog vs digital, etc, but objectively it has no superior quality to a CD or a pure digitally stored file in a lossless format, however it is the case that when you take a vinyl for listening you are being deliberate about it. You are taking the time, turning the disc, etc, it is a much deeper connection.

Online stuff seem ephemeral/unimportant at first site, that is not always the case, and I think it is changing with newer generations. For myself, I love high quality FLAC music and reading ebooks, but nothing beats the feeling of a good book in an excelent print, and many times I want to listen to a vinyl.

~jetgirl wrote (thread):

>Should "value" solely be defined by amount people will pay for something?

In this instance yes. The value being portrayed here is monetary in the scope of the discussion. A loving text message can have way more emotional value than say a news article about upcoming road closures. The issue is, if I go to a news site and all I can see is the headline "Upcoming Road Closures..." then a "subscribe for $5 a month" below it, do I care enough about that information to pay for it? I pay for text messages to be sent to my phone (all bundled up in the phone plan these days but I'm sure you remember when they were pay per text.) so why wouldn't I want to pay the local news directly for their information that can ultimately affect my commute? Same applies to stories, poetry, books, etc. At what point is my writing worth charging for? When I print it out? I can read the same quality writing in online lit journals as the printed lit journals on my desk.

Some of the idea on this came up after the HuffPost layoffs, some drama about Substack Payments, then rekindled after MEL magazine was shut down. Just interesting things to think about when an outlet that was once easily profitable and held monetary value rapidly dies, the value of the (exact same) content also diminishes.