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I've heard of a few periodical sites that have sold individual articles. Though it seemed pretty expensive at the time, I don't see why that sales plan wouldn't work.
I too expect online magazines to cut back on the free content, and create subscriptions to access the rest (and likely per-issue and per-article prices, too). "Internet," "payments" and "subscriptions" do have a well-established history... it's just that most of it has been in high-end business, and specialty interests (like porn).
Software went through a similar pattern, ignoring the middle-ground consumer and giving content away, then finding ways to encroach payments into the middle end market as well (Microsoft and Adobe products being among the best examples). If digital magazines manage to create a strong market out of a compelling product (and they may have to exercise a bit more control over undesired content sharing and infringement), they too could encroach charges into the mid-consumer market.
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