Keep Turning Left has gone pay per view. What was once a free jolly on YouTube is now a dedicated site with a PayPal button.
So what do I make of that? Well the initial reaction is the standard "it's on the internet so surely its free."
But as someone who earns his living selling software that is a slightly weak argument. In reality I think content that has value and took effort to create should be able to make a return. And that means doing what we are all reluctant to do, namely pay.
And there's no doubt that the Keep Turning Left series from Dylan Winters is of a very high standard (though a bit too many panning shots of Walton that don't feel comfortable). So I went over there and with a couple of clicks was able to see the latest instalment.
Quite a lot about seals there was too:
Dylan even gets up at what he calls "horrid o'clock" to do a bit of seal watching. Slightly worryingly he waxes eloquently about the beauties of the female seals - has he been out there too long one wonders?
But the seals are rather wonderful. In the murky mud they use their whiskers to sense minute changes in water flow that might indicate the presence of a tasty fish.
So will I pay up 99c next time? Probably - and as a general rule I don't think we should be scared of paying for user generated content.
Quite the opposite, as there are an awful lot of talented people out there with something to say. And we should be able to reward the good ones with the one feedback that shows really mean it.
Nothing says "good job" as much as a click on a PayPal button.
