Is Free Worth It?

Reading a post by Seth Godin about Chris Anderson's book "Free," and then reading an article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker, Priced to Sell (http://tinyurl.com/nfqcll) makes my head spin. Gladwell writes: "The digital age, Anderson argues, is exerting an inexorable downward pressure on the prices of all things “made of ideas.” Anderson does not consider this a passing trend. Rather, he seems to think of it as an iron law: “In the digital realm you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win.”

Later, he writes: "And there’s plenty of other information out there that has chosen to run in the opposite direction from Free. The Times gives away its content on its Web site. But the Wall Street Journal has found that more than a million subscribers are quite happy to pay for the privilege of reading online. Broadcast television—the original practitioner of Free—is struggling. But premium cable, with its stiff monthly charges for specialty content, is doing just fine. Apple may soon make more money selling iPhone downloads (ideas) than it does from the iPhone itself (stuff)."

The values people put on things always bemuses me. Each person has their own value system that puts a price on what they desire. Some people will pay $100 to go to a concert lasting 2 hours, but not pay $100 for a quality toaster that will last them three years. How many people pay $3.49 for one Starbucks coffee, but are angry about a gallon of gas costing $3.49 that will take them 25 miles. We won't pay $199 for a GPS unit, but will pay $10 per month forever to get it on our phone.

Free is definitely cool, but at no cost can we trust the content? At the cost of "Free" buyer beware, but there is no doubt that content that can be gotten for free elsewhere is not worth Free, plus one cent next door.