Internet Archive Needs Donations, Has Matching Donor 58
The Internet Archive curates an astounding collection (actually, a collection of collections) of online resources, from historically significant to modern but obscure. Storing, serving and organizing more than 10 petabytes isn't cheap, despite their ongoing efforts to innovate on that front. An anonymous reader writes "An anonymous donor is matching $3 for every $1 given (up to $450,000) until December 31. One petabyte has been paid for so far and the archive is looking at getting three more. 'These massive servers are the backbone of the Archive, and critical to our continued growth. To all of you who've contributed to our fundraising drive, thanks from all of us here at the Internet Archive. '"
Donation Link (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the link to donate [archive.org] just in case the editor's oversite would be enough to disuade you.
Re:Minimum suggested level $25? (Score:2, Informative)
It's suggested. As you found, you can type a lesser amount in the textbox. Where's the issue?
Re:Minimum suggested level $25? (Score:4, Informative)
Amazon payments charges:
Transactions greater than or equal to $10.00: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. So a $25 donation yields $23.97 to archive.org, or 95 cents on the dollar.
Transactions less than or equal to $9.99: 5.0% + $0.05 per transaction. So a $5 donation yields $4.70, or 94 cents on the dollar.
Now, they are most likely using Amazon's volume payment system, so are paying between 2.2 and 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction, but only for transactions greater than $9.99. Let's assume the lower rate (although it's calculated as a 3-month average, so I doubt they're eligible). Now a $25 donation yields $24.15, or 96 cents on the dollar. It's just not as cost-effective for them to solicit tiny donations (btw, PayPal's rates are similar).
As to the worth of the service, whether you use it or not, archive.org is still there 24/7/365. Would you prefer to submit your query and then wait 72 hours for the results?