Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:11 am
Take a few minutes to read Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business in Wired Magazine and post a thoughtful response. What does this shift mean for business? The availability of information? How has it impacted you? How has your life been different from someone who grew up when this wasn’t the case? We look forward to the discussion!
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15 Responses to “Discussion Post 8: Free Economy”
Compared to years ago, many companies are gaining enough confidence where they allow their customers to use their products at no cost. They hope that when the customer tries the product and likes what they’re using, that they’ll want to buy more of it in the future. That perspective is obvious. However, I don’t understand how inventions that we see on TV that seem completely outrageous such as the “Snuggie” allow their customers to have a 30 day free trial, etc. I understand that they are trying to get their product out to the public but on the other hand most of those products you see on those miserable commercials seem like complete junk. I guess my overall question is, “How successful are these promotions for these new (seemingly bogus) inventions?”
For already successful and prominent companies, I think the idea is genious. Let’s take Pepsi Co. for example. They give out free t-shirts, pencils, etc. promoting their new products and it works. I mean face it, it could be complete trash, but if its free people will flock regardless. So, as someone sports their free “diet cherry pepsi with a hint of lime” soda, people are going to ask questions, become curious, and possibly buy one to try it.
I never really realized that what was said in the article is actually happening. Older technology decreases in value and this leads to that technology being used to create something else. The transistors are a good example. At first no one could use a lot of them because they are expensive but later one could use a lot and created a user friendly interface.
Gillette’s business model does make a lot of sense although back then it was probably a revolutionary idea. Nothing will ever be free though because there will always be some snag although hopefully the “free” gifts will keep getting cooler.
I think that this move toward “freeconomics” is going to change the way that businesses interact with consumers. As the article states, prices of production are dropping, particularly with digital media. Companies can afford to promote their brands by offering free materials or free trials of those materials to the public. This is something that is become more and more prevalent by the day.
By the same token, this move by companies to cut costs while simultaneously promoting their brands is leading to more and more business being done online. After all, the majority of the internet is free to the public. Also, companies want to become more transparent and appear more “consumer-friendly” so more and more information will become available online to consumers.
Has my life really changed? Somewhat. I think all of our lives have changed with the technological improvements being made. I also believe that it’s extremely useful to us consumers to be able to attain whatever information we need online. It’s convenient, it saves time, and it’s much more user-friendly. We have the luxury to gather this information and reap the benefits of “freeconomics” due, in part, to the internet. Obviously those who lived throughout the pre-web era did not have the same opportunity. How lucky are we?
The shift that is apparently happening towards “freeconomics” is going to greatly shape the way that businesses interact with their customers in the future. The kind of work that companies are going to carry out, as well as the kind of capital which they are rewarded for will greatly change. It seems that in general, the internet will cause businesses to charge less for information and more for service type work. It is interesting at the same time that this article compares the way that the internet is shifting business models to the original company to follow freeconomics, Gillete. It seems that the concept of freeconomics based on Gillete versus those of internet companies is fairly different.
As an economics major, I have looked at this “freeconomics” concept in the past. Overall, the effect has been largely positive; things such as the green revolution and outsourcing have made it possible to provide cheap food and clothing to most people in the developed world. The problem with that statement, is, of course “most of the developed world.” Due to largely unregulated capitalism in various countries, this excess of goods usually go to those who already have an excess of goods to begin with. Thus, we have a situation where Americans (myself included) waste obscene amounts of food and clothing, while people in less fortunate countries go completely without. So, while this “free” trend has had amazing effects as far as our productivity is concerned, it has yet to transfer over to our distribution capabilities.
The shift from “cheap” to “free” is something that business are now being forced to consider. There was probably a time where they didn’t take the Internet seriously and didn’t get on the web. Or perhaps, they did get on the web, but lacked the guidance to make their company “transparent.” Not adjusting to the shift of the new digital economics is in a certain way, sealing their fate. The Internet has become the number one source of communication, and with that, it is also the number one resource for information.
This notion has impacted me firsthand because I am part of the generation growing up in this new digital revolution. With many things becoming “free,” I am able to access much more information. Having this ability is very gratifying because many new doors have opened up in response to the continuously expanding field of technology.
The entire notion of “freeconomics” is a positive one in my opinion. In today’s day and age, many services online have already moved to being free or are in the process of becoming free, as shown with the example of Yahoo mail having unlimited storage for free. I feel that it is smart for companies to use the idea of things being “free” to basically promote their products and boost sales due to customer satisfaction and a desire to continue the use of the product which they had tried for free. Information on the internet is endless and a majority of it is free. Companies that aren’t willing to make this shift to being free don’t have any other option but to give into this change, otherwise, they won’t exist as a company anymore in the near future. Overall, I think the idea of free things is a great idea
The shift from receiving various aspects of a business for free from what we used to have to pay for has happened without me even realizing it really. For information that used to require a fee, on certain websites there is no longer any charge to do that same research. As far as what that means for the businesses there is a double edged sword; information about their products is able to get across easier, but they are losing any profit from the charges they used to collect. Thanks to the openness of the web, gathering information has been easier than ever. Personally, because so much information is free now, doing research papers has become exponentially easier to compile a list of all the research needed. As compared to my parents, who did not have the luxury of all of this free information, every type of school wok has become easier than what they had to do. Thanks to the ease at which information is now available, life in general has become more simple.
The fact that products can sell themselves now is mainly what is running the business world through the web. For example, users have access to Wikipedia for free, which includes a plethora of information in a matter of a few clicks. But, if Wikipedia was awful, absolutely nobody would use it. The same goes for Google. All the features on Google are for free, but they are used widely around the world because they are so awesome. Advertising also allows for this to occur. Without advertising on the web, many sites would not be able to stay up for free. Sites like Facebook and MySpace have advertisements up and down the margins of the page. Thus, they are providing their services for free and receiving money from other companies who want their products to become noticed. The concept behind free information is brilliant, and it has made the world a lot more fun for us users. Hopefully the trend will continue as the business world continues to have success under this concept.
I believe the idea of “freeconomics” can do wonders for companies if it is promoted in the right way. Obviously bigger companies, with a well known name, have an easier time with this principle. But even in smaller scales the idea of giving people “free” stuff can be an excellent marketing tool.
The increasing availability of information to me is both great and scary. It is exciting to be able to get on the internet and find essentially everything you need to know, but at the same time it is scary to think that you can be apart of this information and you yourself cannot be private. My generation is totally different then that of my parents. I cannot imagine life with out a cell phone, but at the same time I wish I could, I believe life was much simpler back then.
The idea of “freeconomics” can do great things for companies. Larger companies already do this and I think that smaller companies will also embrace this idea to get their products out there. A few weeks ago, Gatorade was on campus to promote their new logo which was debuted during the Super Bowl. To promote this new logo, the company was giving away free Gatorade bottles with the new logo on the bottle. Many people thought Gatorade was just being nice, but after reading this article, I think that Gatorade was really buying into the whole idea of “freeconomics” and giving away the free bottles in the hope that it would get people to buy their products.
The amount of information that is available to me is amazing. The internet makes it possible to find information about virtually everything anyone could ever want to know about. The advances in technology have affected me and everyone else because it makes our lives easier and people are having to adjust to the new standards. My generation is a lot different than my parents generation. I cannot imagine not having the internet or not being able to text during the day. I guess it’s kind of sad, but I’m just used to it.
The concept of freeconomics and the role of the internet is familiar for college students. We are often fed a barrage of free samples as companies have now realized that college students often have more disposable income than adults in the current economy.
The quote about information wanting to be free as well as expensive is a going trend since the internet gained popularity. ESPN’s website gives lots of free articles for every but has insider information that people need to pay for. They give a teaser to the article that you need to pay for and so far have been successful in making people want to pay for “inside” info by giving them plenty of free material beforehand.
The free Radiohead idea was really clever. They made more money than imaginable because they had no middle man to worry about and have to pay. Even though many people, including myself, didn’t pay, the very fact that many people are willing to pay album price or even more is enough to lead to a major profit. Free is great. I’m not just saying that because I am the everyday poor college student haha.
The future of business is free. The availability of information has drastically increased not only since my parents were in college but just in the past few years. The generation growing up in the free business environment of today will have a much greater exposure to information. When information is freely available to anyone with an internet connection individuals are typically more open to trying new things because there is really nothing to loose, at least in the monetary form. It’s not as if artists, authors, actors, and experts will no longer be receiving monetary compensation for their skills and expertise, it’s just that they will be receiving it for different things - different, usually non-material things, such as live performances.
I do believe that the future of business is free. In the past few years, information has become very easily accessible and the world of free samples is here. As college students, especially, we are used to companies devising marketing schemes to get us to try their product by allowing us to try their product for free. People will no longer simply “pay to get in”, they will have to see profits coming from other streams. We will be able to see money come in and go out, but it will come from agencies that want to get their name out there in new and innovative ways. These agencies will pay the recording artists to perform and it is through this that they will make money in the future.