[extropy-chat] A nickel and dime economy?

[Kevin Freels]

I have been noticing a trend toeards ever smaller payments for smaller and more personalized products and services. The internet has allowed for things such as individual downloads of songs. Many documents such as legal forms used to be able to be had for free via advertising supported income, but that is starting to fall away. Cell phone companies practically give their phones away, but when you get the phone, you buy ring tones, games, and other personalized services. 
Meanwhile, I have noticed another trend towards toll roads, toll bridges, etc. Pay-per-view television is also growing at an enormous rate.

The fee per use market is booming. Newer technologies are making it possible to have payments conveniently deducted from your checking account without ever having to write a check, fill out a form, or carry cash. 

I was wondering if anyone had followed this through to the future. Does anyone here see a possible future where nearly everything is fee based? Will we be able to get rid of taxes entirely and instead have every trip down every road deducted according to that road's "value". Will that $75 payment for 500 worthless channels in TV become a thing of the past, instead allowing us to pay for each program as we watch it? Will the subscription services fall to the wayside as we are able to conveniently download the news directly to our phones...at a cost? 

Taking it further, will be be able to pay for each and every military operation as it occurs? Will we eventually be able to control government spending directly by haveing each and every service directly billed to us? Will we be able to help conservation and environmental efforts by having people pay for every trip down a road? Will people then choose to carpool, or simply make fewer trips to the grocery store? 

I don;t know if this has ever come up here, or if maybe I am just way off the deep end here. It just seems to me that we are on the verge of some really neat ways to fund public projects and change the disposable and wasteful mentality of the average American at the same time. Any thoughts?

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