Comments on: Free is only good if someone else is paying for it. . http://blogmaverick.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/ the mark cuban weblog Wed, 23 May 2012 22:55:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Gary http://blogmaverick.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/#comment-52012 Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:29:15 +0000 http://blogmaverick.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/#comment-52012 I read your comments. I placed a value on them. I decided to steal
‘em. (kiddin…well…yeah kiddin).
Insightful.
My sentiments exactly.
Shame my programmer is living in an open source dream. Scuse me While
I make him read this..
For sale: one programmer, slightly damaged.

Gary

]]> By: Rob http://blogmaverick.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/#comment-48346 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:31:47 +0000 http://blogmaverick.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/#comment-48346 I second that, and add that this is an idea that you rarely, if ever, see in the general media. I’ve many times tried to explain similar notions to people, but, perhaps due to inferior linguistic skills, have never fully summed it up convincingly. Specifically, you may have heard of the SF writer Cory Doctorow, who is a big believer in free content and who regularly gives away over the internet his novel concurrent to their release from a traditional publisher. I could never get people to understand that the only reason people will download his novels from his website is because he also got the money from Tor Books. The fact that his books are put out by a major, traditional publisher, and people are buying copies from Barnes & Noble, *validates* them. Doctorow’s position is that the free downloads sell more books, and he could be right (as long as he maintains a hybrid of paying and free content, but he wants to make the claim that free downloads can drive books sales, when the truth is no one wants to waste time on a free e-book unless it’s been validated by a traditional content provider.

]]> By: Jeff http://blogmaverick.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/#comment-42225 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:08:13 +0000 http://blogmaverick.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/free-is-only-good-if-someone-else-is-paying-for-it/#comment-42225 Mark, great observation. I agree 100% and would like to embelish. Not only do free products & services create the perception of no value. Worse, they red-flag consumers to scams.

At Free-Rentals.com, we struggle explaining our pay-per-performance model because of the perception that \”free\” equals \”scam\”.

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