Is this writer serious? He thinks Twitter might charge a whole $100 to companies like Comcast and Starbucks... but only if the software is really good! I mean, come on. What happens when you run out of those top 20, or even 500 companies who might be willing to pay for your best product? $50,000? Half a developer's salary? Probably a third or a quarter of what they are paying the product manager they hired to lead this effort? No, this writer has no clue, or I hope not, for Twitter's sake. Twitter has the capability to create far more value than that for its "pro" customers.
I wonder how much revenue something like this would bring in...
I wonder how much sustainable revenue something like this would bring in. I imagine any number of us on this site would throw down a couple of bucks ($25/year like flickr et al, $3-10/month, etc) in support of twitter... initially. If they compromise the API feature set for advanced account features, that will reduce the feel of twitter; if they do not, any twitter feature will be replicated elsewhere. Tough situation, except they've got a lot of good will right now (ie, I would pay today for an account without much more of a bonus than a supporter button).