Microstock, good or bad? Who knows?
I know of photographers making money from stock and those that curse it.
Me, I could never shoot images without knowing what they will be used for and by whom; just hoping enough will be bought to make it. That is why I go after cliental that cant use stock photos, like architects, interior designers, hotels and B&Bs, etc. And when reading through this post and looking at the fees offered I was offended by how low the payments are, but then I thought "didn't I just put together a pricing scheme for Facebook ads from $0.11 to $0.15 per click" (plus a base rate too of course, but nothing too high).
Just to say, not sure if $0.11 to $0.15 is an appropriate amount to charge, but I have to test that with time.
Also, I feel like so many photographers get so angry with the change going on instead of adapting to it, is it not better to get in front of the 8 ball than behind it? Threes years ago when I started, things like twitter, facebook, and linkedin did not even exist and never considered making anything like them part of my marketing. Now it seems like they will overtake my marketing and when talking to my clients, I strongly advise them to incorporate them in their marketing plan.
And I am sure things like the iPad will completely change things even more; I am already thinking about how to utilize that tool. Not just to use in my business, but to create a pricing scheme specifically for my images to be used in media on it.
$0.15 sound low, but if 100,000 people click on it, that's $15,000 (what to population of the world?). Not so bad after all; create 10 images a year with that potential and you'll be doing pretty good.