The uh, shall we say, “Adult entertainment” industry has been able to make the internet pay quite nicely. (Or so I hear. Wouldn’t know myself.) For example – without getting into the merit of the series itself – ‘Firefly’ fans would have been thrilled to plunk down money for a subscription that let them download a new epsisode each week. For those with slow or no connections a DVD could be sent via snail-mail. Although e-books and such really haven’t taken off, that is likely a problem of download times, which are improving, and the reputation of the product. But by beginning with niches for which small groups of devoted fans are prepared to put up the $$. In fact, it seems to me that the writers would be doing themselves a favor by offering their best efforts to smaller producers who will be thrilled to get them, taking advantage of how loudly internet ‘word of mouth’ can talk.
