What if the aggregator is the generator itself? Many businesses have different divisions, why don't the non-profit aggregators have divisions that make money to support the overall organization? Why not a funding site where a percentage is taken from successful fundings? A streaming service. A booking service. A hosting service. Distributed computing. In browser activity. Social aggregation might be an inescapable loss-leader.
That's a good idea! There could even be separate subscriptions for separate topics.
What about a physical aggregator? You have a digital space where people can share ideas and interests, maybe a physical space would be just as interesting.
This is a really good point! I've got some network hardware, and other computer gear, which I'm too busy to actively use, and I'd like to share, but still kinda want to reserve for myself. I've thought, periodically, about how a community rental system could work to facilitate that. Low monthly fee, rentals are free, charge fees for overdue stuff. I'm not sure if it would end up being more like a library or a hackerspace.
>Distributed computing. hang on a second, that's it! require that users run BOINC as a part of your distributed computing system for access (perhaps by requiring 10 "credits" per month, first month free, with credits earned through computing power) and sell the computing power for money. if you include a javascript-based BOINC client anyone can do it. it also doesn't directly cost people money.