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+title = "How Much Is a Browser Worth?"
+date = 2024-07-03T17:22:01+10:00
+
+# [extra]
+# updated = 2024-06-04T07:49:36+10:00
++++
+
+Apparently people are excited about funding independent browser efforts this
+week. I have little interest in funding yet another browser built in C++ in
+2024 but [Servo] is still alive. Since Mozilla refuse to let us directly
+fund Firefox I shall set up a recurring donation to Servo.
+
+The next question is how much is a web browser worth to me? Based on minutes
+spent using a browser, quite a lot!
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+Once upon a time you could pay for Netscape. It seems that [in 1996 Netscape
+3.0 cost US$49][netscape3]. Adjusting for inflation that's US$97 in 2024. Let's
+round that up to an even US$100. At the time of writing [Numbat] tells me
+that's AU$150 or AU$12.50 per month, which seems reasonable.
+
+Some other services for comparison (I don't actually have an active YouTube
+Premium subscription):
+
+- Netflix: AU$18.99/m
+- YouTube Premium: AU$16.99/m
+- JetBrains Rust Rover: US$129/y (AU$194, AU$16/m)
+
+A browser is a least as useful as these, almost certainly more. So, I've set up
+a US$15/m (AU$22.50) recurring sponsorship on GitHub. I encourage you to [do
+the same][sponsor-servo].
+
+[netscape3]: https://web.archive.org/web/19961115062838/http://merchant.netscape.com/netstore/NAVIGATORS/STANDARD/STANDARD_ITEMS/leaf/product1.html 
+[sponsor-servo]: https://github.com/sponsors/servo
+[Servo]: https://servo.org/
+[Numbat]: https://numbat.dev/
+