More importantly, because of the bells and whistles of technology at their disposal, iPad users are going to expect more than just text. Embedded video files or links to sources are only the beginning, but they’ll need a new level of production infrastructure, and with their business model threatened few newspaper owners are going to pay for the staff or systems to enable it.

But the most urgent question facing The Domino Project might be the danger that it turns out to be the same sort of entity it exists to rail against. Will it only work if Godin and his handful of staff keep it small and retain their craftsmanlike approach, or would he like to see it get as big as the Doubledays and Random Houses of the world? “I’d rather people in publishing copy the notion so I can go back to having a normal life as a writer…”

The Million Dollar Homepage is one of those beautifully simple ideas you want to kick yourself for not thinking of first — especially when it’s actually worth a million dollars.