I fully agree profit can’t be the only driver for technology. Both because I’d say it results in inferior technology, but also for pure moral reasons. If you can contribute to bringing good into the world – then do it. But you will still need to profit as well.

Also, I’d totally pay for services that are good! But it has to stay within micro-payment sizes. I feel I can only pay intaginble sums of money for intangible products.

For the betterment of humanity.

Of course I agree with you, for business advancement profit is a need. But one should not single out profit as the one and only cause for the existence of technology.

But as you say, all the shiny webapps will have to start selling something. And I’ve noticed that most actually are!
More and more apps are bringing in small reasonable payments for use of their app.

Imagine Facebook taking 5SEK a month for use of their app, would anyone complain? Don’t think so.
Would Facebook earn a hell of a lot of money? Yepp…

With the web as extensive as it currently is one can sell a product incredibly cheap because there are no overhead costs, no production costs or anything, you just have a shitload of users paying for access. It’s like running the freakshow at a circus. A “selling-stuff”-business model is getting more and more possible

There are many possible, better (?) economic models, including Fresco’s Venus project. But they are just ideas and philosophies and thus quite uninteresting when it comes to real business. That said, I still think it’s very interesting to discuss over coffee, especially environment-based, sustainable economies. But they are separated from real economies.

As the world is built right now, it’s a free market. Competitive yes, but also quite intriguing and awesome. Above all, it’s what you make of it (since it’s free!)

But the condition is to work together and unite forces for constructive means, not war, competition and destruction.

You should watch Zeitgeist 2: Addendum by the way. :)