Snowy morning

Being at low altitude near the start of the Firth of Tay we get mild weather; this winter morning was unusual in that I awoke to falling, settling snow. I enjoy the variety of seasons and snow can be very pretty. In our life here we do not have the money to be able to deal with snow easily but a light fall does not present any great difficulty: my journey to work went easily and perhaps the road surfaces will even be clear when I return home tonight. Later on I expect to still be able to see snow covering the hills.

Counterproductive paywalls

I find it interesting how in my case others' efforts to ensure revenue often cause less of it. An early example was Napster. If I could listen to music a few times then I could find that I liked it enough to be worth buying; the music industry had Napster shut down. It is not as if promotion and reviews are likely to cause me to buy an album. The principal substitute I had for Napster was if I were lucky enough to live somewhere where I could first borrow the CD from the library for free (so, not Britain). At least these days it seems that a high fraction of tracks can be heard on YouTube.

A more recent example is newspaper websites that are increasingly hiding content behind varieties of reading quota or paywall. This teaches me not to bother visiting the site as the risk of disappointment is high; they then fade from my mind somewhat. The Guardian is taking a different approach: offering news and opinion for free but reminding us that it would be awfully nice if we were to pay them. Having previously been wealthier I already know that I do actually pay for such things when I have the money and for now The Guardian keep themselves in my mind and my good graces without losing out: I am not going to pay at the moment regardless of access to their content and someday if my financial circumstances improve then they are now among the more likely to share in that.