It wasn't long ago that I signed up for JungleDisk and chose to splurge for their "Plus" subscription. - Why did I need more than the free service ? - Well, for the extra features that came for the bargain basement price of $1/month - why not ? Next I needed to go over to Amazon's S3 service to sign up for my account in order to store my data on Amazon's 'cloud' storage service. - How much is that you might ask -- well, it's about $1.60 per month.
Is the proper term 'micro-subscription' ? - In any case, I've found that I have a horrible weakness. - I'll pay a buck for just about anything, and I think you would too. (See iTunes) - If a gallon of gas costs $4, why not drop a buck here and there for fun. When checking out at PetSmart after buying Alex $5 worth of Snausages, their credit card systems asks if I want a dollar to go to homeless pets. - A buck ? - sure, why not. -- Now my addiction to giving up hard-earned dollars has taken a twist - Google Checkout and Amazon's marketplace have made one-click spending and one-click subscribing easier than ever.
Recurring subscriptions are a slippery slope. Cell Phone, Cable, Internet, Vanity E-mail domain name? - Tivo? -- all have found ways to rope you into paying every month. - Now things we're used to getting for free are getting in on the act: Satellite Radio and even GPS subscrptions for extra services on devices like the Dash are drawing funds from our pockets. - But we the consumers are onto their tricks, we're aware of the fine print, extra fees, taxes and early-termination penalties.
How quickly we fall back into our old habits - this time - a buck at a time. I'm very interested in keeping watch as to where these on-line dollar snatchers are striking. - Please post back in the comments if you're hooked to passing a George and how it happened.
