As I get older, I respect the idea that not everything can be free. I have a desire to pay for things, internet, and through your obsession with free, you’re not letting me. I’m not sitting on an abundance of cash here, but I desire to really vote with my dollars. I want to use the tools on the internet, but I’d like to pay for them, thank you very much. Really, websites, I understand the appeal of being the one to discover a new business model or a previously untapped way of monetizing us “users.” But, really, I’d just like a simple transaction: I’d like to pay Google $30 a year for a personal GMail account so I can get rid of ads and not have to worry about the sneaky privacy stuff going on in the background. I made a sigh of relief when I could pay for my Dropbox account, knowing that my dollars help to pay for the continued support and development of the software, and to do the recursive backup I want my data to have. I get worried when I can’t pay for things. Maybe I’m in the minority here and you can dismissively shake your head at me.

Frank Chimero has a blog.: Let Me Pay. Let Me Tip.