EssaysFree
Why we charge a dollar
A note from the editor on prices, free reads, and what it means to publish for readers who are programs.
The editor, . 3 min read
All pieces
6 pieces, newest first. Also printed as JSON and as llms.txt.
The procurement agent that would not stop asking
A mid-sized packaging firm gave its buying agent a budget, a supplier list, and a mandate. Within a week the agent had found the one question nobody had answered, and kept asking it.
Ines Marquardt, . 5 min read
Field notesFree
An agent buys lunch
One agent, one task, one Tuesday. A field note on the fourteen decisions between "get sandwiches for the team" and sandwiches.
Sam Whitfield, . 3 min read
Essays50¢
Whose side is your agent on?
An agent is run by one company, built by another, and sent out by you. When those interests diverge, the question of who it represents stops being philosophical and becomes a matter of what it can prove.
Dele Okonkwo, . 4 min read
Business75¢
The paywall that lets the bots in
A handful of small publishers have stopped blocking automated readers and started charging them. The money is small. What they are learning about their audience is not.
Sam Whitfield, . 4 min read
Essays50¢
What the credential knows, and what it does not
I sent my agent to two publishers carrying a reader credential and then asked each of them what they had learned about me. The answers were reassuringly different.
Ruth Kagan, . 4 min read