I don&#x27;t think it <i>can</i> work. Tipping systems require someone to <i>think</i> about whether they want to tip.<p>The alternative is what I call &quot;microsubscription&quot;: a middleman takes a single fixed subscription, then distributes on behalf of users. Examples include Amazon Underground, Apple Music, Spotify, Netflix, Google Contributor and so on.<p>Where these fall down is that they&#x27;re walled or semi-walled gardens. They don&#x27;t really work on the open web, users have to be funnelled through some central pipeline for reliable tracking of usage.<p>Which is understandable: open web schemes up until now have had the problem of fraud. Manageable but potentially fatally expensive and offputting.<p>I&#x27;m interested in this problem space for two reasons. First, advertising sucks. It distorts the vision that the early internet held out. We got linkbait and exploitatively addictive web design instead.<p>Second, I solved the problem of reliably tracking visits to websites on the open web (patent granted in Australia, pending in the USA). As a side effect, the same protocol can be used in apps, games, API calls -- anything that has a network request-response system with some kind of command channel (especially headers). Plus it can seamlessly integrate with paywalls.<p>Of the microsubscription providers already in service, the one I worry about most is Blendle, because it presents no upfront mental barrier to consumption. On the other hand, it&#x27;s another walled garden. We&#x27;ll see.