The main functional obstacle today is that the bank associations which process online payments charge such a stiff fee for handling any credit or debit card transaction, whether large or small, that it would be impossible for publishers to make a reasonable profit from a fee small enough that you or I would be willing to pay it to read just one article.

Fortunately, certain niche sites with reliable ongoing readership have already found a way around this conundrum.  They sell blocks of content access, so the bank processing fee can be spread over multiple pieces of content.

It wouldn't be all that big a jump to enable you to spread your block of pre-paid reads across multiple content sources.  If there were a standard cost to you of a dime per page, you could buy a block of 50 pages, from a wide range of participating magazines and newspapers, for $5.00—less than you might spend on a latte.

Under this type of arrangement, we shouldn't be surprised if the publishers of online content who initially come on board include some of our most prestigious periodicals.  Many of them, after all, are currently in desperate financial straits--if not full-on life support.

Also, regardless of who gets on the bandwagon first, in the longer term, how many online content providers could afford not to participate?

It's not exactly a stretch to predict that many people would prefer this arrangement to the horrendous experience of today's ad-funded e-publishing continuallly throwing trash in our faces while we're trying to read.

Also, once revenue is being generated directly by people reading online pages, it will become feasible to stop depending on advertising to fund written communications—and at the same time, offer services that advertisers aren't willing to pay for.