 Great ideas and even better when implemented |
| Review Date: July 24, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Kelly, Atlanta, GA |
I read the original WIRED magazine article written by Mr. Anderson that this book is based on back in February 2008; I've been anxiously awaiting this book... and I've just finished it.
First off, I've implemented a few "freebies" in the past year that I give away in my line of work; the question was whether it would pay off. It did. I offered something of value (to me, and I believe to my customer) and waited to see if interest in the free item would increase sales of a companion item. Sales were there.
So many people are attacking the book for various reasons, but for me the key question for rating this book was "Is the author's information accurate and can it hold up to real-world results?" The answer is Yes.
A lot of things in the book aren't relevant to me, but I've taken what I can from it (in addition to the original article) and made some changes in how I do business. (I'm a small business owner, not a corporate giant.)
You can agree or disagree with the book's overall theme, but my findings are that the book has a solid grasp on how any business that has any Internet-related sales or support must adapt. The author's argument about how costs are moving to zero for the "bits" world is dead-on.
I find it humorous that so many negative reviews of the book are simply about the price of the book (or the lack of price for some of the free versions). The book is about the concept of Free. Some people are seeing "Free" on the cover and whining that it has a price???
The book isn't light reading - it's got some complicated concepts that the reader must grasp, especially business owners. For that reason, I could never listen to an audio version - I've highlighted my text at various points that I want to come back to and consider how I might use the info with my work.
I give the book 5 stars - I enjoyed it, it gave me much to think about, and I didn't feel (when done) that I'd been ripped off... the value of the information contained in the book is worth much more to me than the $20 I paid.
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Freeconomics
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| Review Date: August 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: bronx book nerd, Bronx, NY USA |
Because of the ongoing drop in the cost of bandwith, storage and computer processing power, which brings the cost of each of these digital age services to almost zero, "free" is becoming a more prevalent price with real power. For the business person and others wishing to profit from "free", the trick is to figure out how to sell services or products related to the free one. Author Chris Anderson, who also wrote Long Tail, The, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More uses Google as one of his primary examples of how free functions in this new economy. Google provides free internet searches and makes money off the targeted ads and premium products. Music groups have gotten on board, and have let go of the idea that they muist rely on copyright protection, and have benefited handsomely by giving away their music and more than making up for it in concerts, premium versions of their music and band-related paraphernelia. Not all "free" providers have managed to "monetize" their offerings. Facebook and Twitter are two examples, although the latter is on the verge of attempting to do so.
The above successes have occured in what Anderson labels the "bits" world that relies on the electronic generation of information, but free can also work in what Anderson calls the "atoms" world, where products are things you can hold or services that you can experience. Telecommunications companies, for example, give you a free cell phone but make their money on usage and ring tones. Anderson provides a good number of examples in table form of both bits and atoms free.
For me, the most intriguing discussion centered on what Anderson calls "finding the scarcity among the abundance", which is where the money is to be made from free or to where the value migrates. I wish there had been more concrete examples because my impression is that those of us who are not necessarily gifted in the geek data and computer world might find this opportunity the best one to exploit. I also wonder if there are opportunities for free to occur in government, or is this phenomenon limited to the private sector?
In any case, the book is an interesting read and will open the reader's eyes to the reality of this new economic force. |
On The Edge
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| Review Date: August 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mark Lefebvre, |
It's funny that other reviewers of this book right here on Amazon talk about Anderson being "out on a limb" and "on the edge" when what he's really doing is putting an old concept into terms that we can easily digest and absorb. Within the book he talks about two key reactions to the concept of FREE -- the "No way" reaction and the "D'uh" reaction.
Funny to see the basis of those two reactions here.
In my opinion here are 3 things he does quite nicely in the book:
1) Define what "FREE" means in a purely business sense
2) Illustrates how it's NOT at all a new concept and traces the history of FREE as well as the various definitions and methodologies on how FREE works
3) Provides concrete modern examples of how these different models of FREE work (or don't work)
Like he did with "The Long Tail" he's providing much food for thought that will be discussed and debated for a long time to come. |
Witty, informative treatise on giving things away
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| Review Date: August 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Rolf Dobelli, Switzerland |
| Economists swear there is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays. That may be true in the "atoms" world of physical things, but Chris Anderson explains why it does not apply in the "bits" world of the Internet, where "free" is the ruling paradigm. If, as Stewart Brand (founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue and the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link) said, "Information wants to be free," now it is, at least in many instances, particularly online. While the idea of giving things away as a promotion or loss leader isn't new, Anderson's fresh insight is that giveaways are becoming a business imperative that companies are going to have to accept and use. Actually, companies online and off can become immensely profitable when they give products or services away for free to bring customers in and to create the need for future ancillary product sales (in other words, take the printer and buy the ink). Anderson, author of The Long Tail and editor of Wired magazine, tells you how to make money by providing most of your offerings for free and charging for just a few of them. getAbstract recommends this perceptive, innovative, idiosyncratic book to all marketers. |
Yes, There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch
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| Review Date: January 2, 2010 |
| Reviewer: James W. Fonseca, Zanesville, OH |
| We've heard that information wants to be free. We're all for it as long as we are on the receiving rather than the giving end. The value of Chris Anderson's work is in showing us exactly how "free" can work. It turns out it's not a new idea: think radio and television in the days of antennas. Most Google services are free (paid for by ads). On-line textbooks can be free by selling add-ons such as the right to print chapters, study guides, audio summaries of chapters, downloads to electronic book readers, etc. MIT's courses can be given away because you still can't buy the degree. On-line games can be free because 10% or so of users will ante-up for extras or premium versions that enhance the game experience. Free trial versions of software obviously rely on users buying the product after the trial. Put your book on-line for free and recoup your money on the lecture circuit and through consulting fees. If you're an unknown rock group, give away free CDs until you build your audience. If you're a known rock group, try giving away your songs on-line for free or for "whatever you think is fair" and you might average $6 a CD and still make a killing while you build up your concert tour audience. Give away the printer or the cellphone and make your money on ink cartridges and calling plans. Anderson, editor of Wired and former editor of US business for the Economist, catalogs a lot of good ideas and in the process convinces us that "Free" is here to stay. |
Free is worth the expense
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| Review Date: July 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M. McDonald, Chicago, IL United States |
Free and profit form an apparent contradiction that is reshaping industries and who we think of commerce. Chris Andersen unpacks the contradictions in Free which is one of the better business books I have read in the last year.
I paid for the book and read it on a flight from Chicago to Europe. I was ok paying for the book as I like to write/highlight different parts for future reference. People in the U.S. can read the book online for `free' at :
[...]
The book is a quick and breezy read, which may give people the idea that the concept is a little `lite.' It is important to remember that Andersen is a journalist rather than a business academic or consultant. He has acquired this knowledge through interacting with others and this book is the work of a `maven' who wants to share that knowledge with others. This puts the book in the same category as Crowdsourcing or Outliers rather than the work of Clayton Christensen, Gary Hamel or Jim Collins. Once you understand the context, its possible to appreciate the book for what it is.
I recommend this book for several reasons. First it is a book that discusses the concept of `free' in our economy, society, personal and professional lives. In taking this approach, Andersen is able to take an idea that many thinks as simple and foolish and show its surprising complexity and explain it fully. Second, the book presents these ideas in a clear fashion with ideas building upon one another.
Free is one of the few business books that seeks to build understanding rather than just explaining an idea. I think that many will see "free" as an idea of selling things for no price, which seems like a fairly simple construct. However, if you think about the concept and the examples in the book you can apply them to our own situation.
The first eight chapters of this book are strong and well worth the read. That is about ½ of the book. After that the quality of the writing and the clarity of the ideas falters somewhat - still valuable, but it would have been great if the back half of the book got into more detail and more examples rather than largely rehashing the earlier concepts.
Recommended for business leaders and executives who want to understand more about the notion of offering things for "free." Marketing personnel and those working in companies with a strong information component to their products and services should find this book helpful in crystallizing their ideas.
Strengths
Well written and easy to read as the concepts are illustrated by case examples outside internet companies.
Good graphics particularly at the beginning of the book that illustrate the flow of information and value.
The concept of `free' is treated from different perspectives including a historical and social point of view.
The book discusses treats "free" as a concept which enable the reader to concentrate on understanding the issues rather than having to listen to a diatribe advancing one point of view, which is a weakness in other consulting based books.
Challenges
Andersen is a journalist and maven, therefore much of these ideas are not his own. This is ok once you know that is book is an exposition of an idea rather than a scholarly work. You will recognize some of these ides from other authors - it would have been good to provide some attribution.
The book does concentrate heavily on Google almost to the exclusion of other companies who are pursuing "free" as a strategy. Like other books about Google - the treatment is high level and partial.
Free is the place where Marketing meets Operations, yet Andersen does not provide insight into the operational considerations of free - other than the observation that the cost of everything goes to zero and therefore can be `wasted.'
There is no treatment of technology in the book, other than to point out how technology makes things 'free'. This is a shame as there are new technologies such as Web 2.0 and software as a service that create new opportunities to transform products and services. This book is technology 'free' in this regard. |
very interesting!!
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| Review Date: August 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jesse Presley, |
This is a very interesting book. If you've ever wondered how Google can stay in business, this explains. Those free porn site? Yep, he explains that business model too.
When I got this, I was thinking, "How am I going to read this entire thing? I'll be bored out of my mind." I wasn't. Great examples of different business models and how they work, even though it appears they wouldn't be able to.
If you are interested in the "behind the scenes" aspects of businesses, this is a great book. Not just theory, but also stuff you can use for your business, if you have one.
I thought this was very well done, with interesting, real-life examples that kept my attention. |
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