I just read a plea from John Dean for me to pay for “Salon Premium.” I and the rest of the GloNo crew are guilty of spending hours reading their stuff, me without so much as clicking on a single ad there. Ever.

Yeah, I admit it: I use the Internet and I don’t pay. From reading articles to downloading music and software to getting directions to whatever godforsaken village in Indiana I need to drive to for a work assignment. (I even used to use free dialup access until I got a cable modem; I never looked at their ads either.) Bottom line is that I use this media and I don’t pay. I do, however, subscribe to a bunch of awful car magazines and pay to buy other glossy rags on the newsstands, even an occasional daily fishwrap (ugh!), and of course I still buy CDs if only for the convenience of not having to collate and burn my own.

So I ask myself, “Why?” Why am I not willing to pay for Internet content? I don’t know.

What is the future of the Internet media?

I don’t know that either. But for some reason, I’m just not going to give Salon thirty bucks.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts…