User Payments: Predictions for 2001 Revisited: "Subscriptions kill links and undermine the usefulness of search engines -- the two main ways users explore and find a richer Web beyond the sites they've bookmarked."

Jakob Nielsen makes a good point on how stacking up several online subscriptions doesn't make much sense for users, and revisits one of his favorite themes: micropayments - if pervasive and invisible - would be the solution to successful and economically-viable online services. (Also, thanks for the link).