When you are flat out working across a number of fronts it is easy to lose sight of the wood for the trees. So a couple of weeks leave was a very good way to reflect on the whole landscape. The snippets of commentary about information management in both the public and private sector in both the UK and the US that I happened to come across served to fuel my thoughts. I will be posting some reflections.
Chris Anderson, current editor of Wired has wound things up with his new book ‘Free: The Future of a Radical Price’ where he extols the truisms of information ‘wanting to be free’ and how new online business models will be based on free first and secure revenue from value-adding second. This book follows an article he published back in Feb 2008.
It has provoked a lot of discussion, including some sharp critique from Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point) in the latest edition of the New Yorker. He asks “Does information want to be free”? Gladwell contends that there is plenty happening in the real world of business models that are working in the opposite direction of free. To foster controversy he cites both YouTube and the iPhone as examples!
On the other side of the Atlantic, (well sort of, he lives in New York too!) the Financial Times (UK) chief business commentator John Gapper uses his review to challenge some of the hypotheses but is generally respectful of Anderson’s effort. What is really interesting and worth a look is that Chris Anderson responded directly to Gapper’s review and a conversation has started on Gapper’s blog.
So for those interested in internet business models that involve something for free, beyond the clever use of open source, and the economic theories that inform the place of ‘free’ in the digital age, I reckon a few minutes of your time checking out these reviews will be well spent.
Please add links to other relvant articles or share your thoughts.
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Fascinating reflection, thank you for sharing these thoughts and including the links.
As John Gapper pointed out, Mr. Anderson’s book has a cover price, so it’s not ‘Free’ as there is a cost involved, although Mr. Anderson has made a version downloadable apparently. The point is like commercial network Television, arguably the most successful proponent of ‘Free’ , the considerable costs of programming and transmission involved are merely shifted from the consumer of the programming to the commercial sponsors, which in turn add this cost to their products marketing budgets which in turn are covered by the sales of the products. Thus the consumer pays indirectly, the same with advertising supported software or other online services. It is important that consumers have a choice as to how they pay and innovative business models are addressing this.