John Scalzi posted this–and it got me thinking about just what I do and don’t pay for as online subscription/recurring-fee items.
Not much, it turns out:
- Netflix, at the two-disc level. Yes, I could go to the library (our library has a huge selection of DVDs), but the Netflix process has led us to a number of interesting flicks we would never have seen otherwise…
- AT&T for broadband (DSL, lowest level ’cause we’re too far from the switching station for faster service–but it’s fine). One question my wife raised as we’re looking more closely at moving: “Do they have robust, affordable broadband?” (For the area we’re considering, the answer is almost certainly yes–and, equally important, there’s competition to keep prices low.)
- 1&1 for domains. They seem solid on making sure you’re reminded well before the auto-renew; they don’t seem to be in the “Oops. You didn’t renew, so we’re replacing your site with a bunch of ads” business, their domain pricing used to be rock-bottom and is still reasonable.
- LISHost for hosting. Personal service, no explicit limits, and a very reasonable price for the domains I host here. Besides, Blake’s a good guy. Highly recommended for library-related websites.
And I think that’s it.
What about you?
About the only thing for me is a lifetime membership to GameKnot.com I got a few years ago. It was well worth it as it’s really the perfect way for me to enjoy playing chess.
I would probably pay for FriendFeed if I had to as I get a huge amount of value from it. Facebook I would drop like a hot potato.
Oh yeah, I would pay to host my blog if I had to.
In addition to DSL service and domain names, I pay for a Flickr pro account and a Plaxo pro account (although I may let the Plaxo account expire next year).
I paid for a lifetime subscription to Library Thing, mostly because I thought the service was a good one and I wanted to support it with the minimal amount they requested.
And, of course, I pay for high speed Internet service and Netflix at the 2 movies a month level of membership.