The combination of the personal connection that Twitter allows and an easy system of micropayments has a lot of potential, but the odds of success are still astronomically low, if the history of micropayments is any guide. The concept behind Flattr is almost as old as the web itself: the idea that, using the power of the distributed web, an economy of “micro-payments” could be created that would make it possible for both individuals and corporations to charge tiny sums for their content. Since there aren’t any of the physical restrictions on money and transactions that occur in the real world, the theory goes, this kind of micro-economy should work quite well. The only problem is that it never has.
via gigaom.com
