Who do I ask the question: WHY does Devcoin/Devtome pay me for my writing? Is it because it is valued on it's own merit, or is it just a mechanism for building the Devcoin community?
If the latter is the case, maybe its just about deciding how big the resource should be and setting a price that's worth to get done and putting up "bounties" or some such for x number of words on certain subjects like any of the other projects Devcoin funds?
The truth is that it's probably a bit of both: all knowledge has a varying degree of value, and any community that becomes inactive simply fades away.
At the very least devtome has got people talking and doing stuff, and that is valuable. The questions weisoq and the rest have been asking is whether there are
more valuable things that could be done either instead of, or in addition to devtome.
It's very tricky putting a price on knowledge...because no one knows when the right ideas will combine in the right person's mind and change the world.