Do we need crypto to enable those transactions? If micropayments made sense, why haven't they caught on already with the payment infrastructure 99% of people already have? Micropayments via crypto are just payment with extra steps.
I'm not for/against either one. I'd just like to see a coherent argument against the idea that crypto is a solution looking for a problem.
With the pre-pay model, you may even end up with each site dictating it’s own payment terms, which would naturally create opportunities for scammy terms that users don’t understand until their money is gone.
A tipping model incentivized quality content and keeps funds under the user’s control.
In this specific case, it looks like some Strike-related company will have custody of funds, which does defeat the purpose of using a decentralized payment method.
Basically all major payment networks are facilitated by a middleman of some sort, and that middleman entity usually has operational costs that disincentivize them from offering micropayments.
Your point about a "balance" lands though - nothing stops NYT from making one "big" charge and then deducting from it other than consumer psychology (paying $10 up front can feel different than paying $0.05 at a time, for example).
Actually, there is already a massive platform that does this sort of thing with what really are microtransactions too and even in local currencies, namely Steam.
Seems like a cryptocurrency fits nicely into “abstract credits with a consistent rate across currencies”.