Earlier today, a couple of us were talking about things people consider free that aren’t really free at all.
“Free drinks” at your all-inclusive vacation really means pre-paid drinks. “Free evenings and weekends” on your mobile phone means that you paid for those minutes as part of your calling plan.
Free services are a core business model for many internet companies.
Following up on my posting from a little over a week ago, Hal Niedzviecki has a review of Chris Anderson’s book in the Saturday Globe and Mail.
The review points out that there is always a cost to free.
This should be on the curriculum starting in kindergarten: Free isn’t free because, kiddies, in corporate North America there is no such thing as a free lunch. If there’s one flaw in this book, it’s that Anderson spends too little time addressing the social costs of this rapidly emerging free economy.
How do we reconcile the way we are paying for ad-supported services? What kinds of events could trigger a backlash against the willingness of so many to pay with intangible currencies such as personal privacy?