Review: Free - The Future of a Radical Price

[wshaffer]

Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
If you've ever wondered how it's possible that businesses can make money giving stuff away for free, this book will explain it well and entertainingly. And give you lots to think about. And if you're a person who currently makes a living as part of any business that sells software, prose, music, or any other content that is stored and delivered as bits, it might make you a bit uneasy.

It's not a perfect book - there are a couple of factual lapses that, while minor in themselves, don't completely inspire confidence in the solidity of parts of the book that I don't have the knowledge to check. Just as an example, in one chapter Anderson quotes Say's Law, which in itself is enough to make me point and laugh at anyone claiming to engage in serious economics. (Okay, I'll confess: I'm a Keynesian. You're shocked, I know.) But Anderson then goes on to give an interpretation of Say's Law that isn't at all the one normally used by economists. The net effect is that he actually makes a good point, but it doesn't completely inspire confidence in the solidity of his research.

Niggles aside, though, Anderson generally comes across as someone who has thought very carefully about these issues. Although he's clearly very enthusiastic about giving stuff away for free as part of a business strategy, he's very clear that it has to be a strategy. And that throwing your stuff up on the web and sticking a tip jar next to it is not a strategy that's going to work for most businesses. Anderson's very keen on what he calls the "Freemium" model - where you give something away for free, and charge for something else, like a related product or service.

And this is where the uneasiness that I alluded to at the top of my review comes in. Because while it's really easy to see how some businesses fit into the Freemium model, others are a little trickier. In particular, while it's very heartening to see that the Radioheads, the Paolo Coelhos, the Neil Gaimans, and the Chris Andersons of the world can give some of their work away for free and reap rewards in the form of concert revenues, free publicity, teaching or lecturing opportunities, or increased sales of physical media, I'd like to see more examples of more niche artists managing this. Because the whole trick with the Freemium model is that giving stuff away for free can allow you to reach a much larger audience, but only a fraction of that audience is going to pay. What happens if your audience just isn't that big? (In fairness, it's clear from Free that some niche artists do make the Freemium model work. I'd just be interested in more analysis of what separates the successes from the failures.)

And a final nitpick - I can't quite get over the use of "Free" as a noun. I keep thinking that we're talking about 70s rock bands. I'll admit that it's much more compact than "giving stuff away for free", which I've used throughout this review, but it still rankles slightly.

Anyway, niggles aside, this is a book that is well worth your time and attention. And if you're not sure whether it's also worth your money, you can always do what I did, and download the free audiobook.





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Comments

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

I didn't know the book was available as a free audio download! On iTunes/Amazon/where?

When this guy was on The Colbert Report, Colbert gave him a hard time for selling his hardcover and not offering the entire book for free. Anderson didn't seem to have a ready answer for this. (I would have thought he'd have one prepared, given the content of his work!) Anyway, it made for good comedy. ;)

Anyway, I'll definitely check this one out. Your review definitely helped. :)

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

I downloaded the book as a .zip package of MP3 files from somewhere on Anderson's website. I can't find that link anymore, but iTunes has it as a free audiobook or as a podcast. I'd go for the iTunes audiobook.

It's a bit surprising that Anderson didn't have a good answer ready on The Colbert Report about why the hardcover costs money, because it's a pretty good example of the Freemium strategy that he talks about in his book: He gives away electronic versions, which cost essentially nothing to produce and are easily copied, and charges for the hardcover, which costs money to produce and is less easily pirated.

Anyway, glad the review helped!