On the other hand, he's not optimistic about other micropayment plans wherein publications would charge users to access individual articles because at present there is not a centralized and widespread payment system as there is with Apple's services (iTunes, iBooks and the App Store) or the Android Market.
"If I just click on my iPad, and it's billed on my normal bill, that micropayment model makes it possible for people to have an impulse purchase," he said. Apple already has his payment information from the get go, and the creator of each app can use Apple's billing system for in-app purchases.
That's one of the reasons Wales believes app stores could be beneficial for the news industry. "The apps model — the iPad app, the Kindle — does provide new and interesting opportunities for newspapers."
We've heard rumors in the past that Google has a unified micropayments system in the works that could do the same for desktop content, but it hasn't happened yet.
Wikipedia is not a commercial enterprise, but Wales's current venture Wikia is ad-supported.