Paul-A-R11

Carliner begins by talking about the various ways that museums charge for admission to their exhibits then switches to how web providers might charge for access to their information. There is already a long history of how to provide access to museums so why not use the lessons learned there as a model for how to provide access to websites. One problem with the premise is that the scale on which these two entities operate is totally different. Even taking into consideration every local museum along with the major ones, they would count in the tens of thousands worldwide. Websites would be more in the millions. As Carliner mentions in the article, admission prices are generally constrained by other museums in the local area. If one museum offers free admission, other museums will find it difficult to charge for admission. One the web the “local area” is the world. Charging admission to a website would only be possible if you offered content that could not be found anywhere else for free. The additional problem is how to keep that information exclusive once you offer access to it to others. On the web it is just too easy to find, duplicate and disseminate information. A physical museum has total control of its content. You may be able to find similar information elsewhere but it would require a trip to another city or another country and even then the admission price might not be free.
Many of the examples that Carliner gives do make sense: if a museum is supported by local taxes, it seems only fair that the taxpayers would receive admission for free or at reduced prices and outsiders should pay more. The daily pass systems he describes seem more of a disservice. Do visitors have to rush through the exhibits so they can visit multiple museums in one day in order to get their money’s worth? It does not sound all that enjoyable to me.