If you had to pay, what would you pay for?

A big chunk of the Internet is free. A very big chunk. But what if it wasn’t? What if you had to pay for the services you consume (over and above what you pay for bandwidth)?

Let’s ignore, for now, the slightly obtrusive fact that the Internet wouldn’t be nearly as big or influential as it is today. What would you be willing to pay for?

Would you pay Google to provide you with search results?

Would you pay to have a Facebook account?

Would you pay Twitter?

Would you still be reading this blog?

Would you be satisfied by the performance of these applications? Or, in other words, are you “settling” for mediocrity because it is free anyway?

It is difficult to imagine the web as a paid service, but try to compare it to television. Aside from a nominal license fee, SABC is free to watch. If you want premium content from DSTV, you have to pay about R500 per month.

I would be prepared to pay a premium for the following:

Google search, Gmail and Gtalk. In fact, I would be prepared to shell out a lot if the only other option was to not have access to the service at all.

Facebook. I would pay for a Facebook account, if people could join my network without having to pay anything themselves. Ditto for LinkedIn.

Blogs. There are about 10 blogs I would pay to read. The other 200 or so that I read now would just have to go the wayside.

Twitter. I would pay for this if everyone else in my network also did (a bit of a catch–22). However, I would definitely pay a subscription for enhanced features, such as unlimited sms’s to my phone and the ability to filter tweets.

Newsworthy content. I would probably subscribe to one good international newspaper, like the New York Tmes or the Wall Street Journal, if there was no free provider of news. I would probably also be willing to pay a nominal fee for Wikipedia access.

Things I already pay for: Basecamp, Audible, Hosting, Online banking

Services like Fllickr, YouTube, Slideshow, Friendfeed, and Google Earth are fun and reasonably useful, but not so much that I would pay for access.

What would you be willing to pay for if that was the only option?