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Product Description
Book Description
The author of The Long Tail unveils his radical vision of the new economy
Product Description
What happens when advances in technology allow many things to be produced for more or less nothing? And what happens when those things are then made available to the consumer for free?
In his groundbreaking new book, The Long Tail author Chris Anderson considers a brave new world where the old economic certainties are being undermined by a growing flood of free goods - newspapers, DVDs, T shirts, phones, even holiday flights. He explains why this has become possible - why new technologies, particularly the Internet, have caused production and distribution costs in many sectors to plummet to an extent unthinkable even a decade ago. He shows how the flexibility provided by the online world allows producers to trade ever more creatively, offering items for free to make real or perceived gains elsewhere. He pinpoints the winners and the losers in the Free universe. And he demonstrates the ways in which, as an increasing number of things become available for free, our decisions to make use of them will be determined by two resources far more valuable than money: the popular reputation of what is on offer and the time we have available for it. In the future, he argues, when we talk of the 'money economy' we will talk of the 'reputation economy' and the 'time economy' in the same breath, and our world will never be the same again.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The author of the book, Chris Anderson, has solid credentials. He is the editor of Wired while he has previously held posts at The Economist, Nature and Science magazines. He is the author of the widely acclaimed and best selling 'The Long Tail'and was the recipient of the Loeb award for best business book in 2007.
The two books, 'The Long Tail' and 'Free' bear a family resemblance in that they are both based on the argument that rapid technological innovation has led to a paradigm shift in business model, product marketing, and cost. But unlike 'The Long Tail', 'Free' lacks an elegant underlying explanation for why some of the new models work and others do not, consequently while 'Free' is interesting is not as compelling as its illustrious sibling.
'The Long Tail' provided an illuminating perspective on the success of internet companies such as Amazon, eBay and Google. These very different companies were all exploiting the internet's capacity to open up niche markets that their rivals with physical facilities, limited precisely by the lack of physical space, could not.
The author divides the idea of Free into four subcategories:cross-subsidies e.g give away the razor, sell the blade;advertising-supported services from radio and television to websites;freemium in which a small subset of users pay for a premium version, supporting a free version for the majority;and non-monetary markets in which participants motivated by non-financial considerations develop things like open-source software and Wikipedia.
Obviously at least the first two categories are old and the author readily acknowledges that. He argues that Free is not new but it is changing. What is different, he argues, is that Free can be more widely applied in the digital era. He argues that while last century's Free was a powerful marketing method, this century's Free is an entirely new economic model.
Beyond the old-fashioned cross-subsidies and free samples, some companies have found new ways to make Free work, but there are not many of them, and the sustainability of others is unclear.
The inability of the author to shed light as to which of these new models are likely to work and which are not is, in my judgement, a flaw in the book.
The two books, 'The Long Tail' and 'Free' bear a family resemblance in that they are both based on the argument that rapid technological innovation has led to a paradigm shift in business model, product marketing, and cost. But unlike 'The Long Tail', 'Free' lacks an elegant underlying explanation for why some of the new models work and others do not, consequently while 'Free' is interesting is not as compelling as its illustrious sibling.
'The Long Tail' provided an illuminating perspective on the success of internet companies such as Amazon, eBay and Google. These very different companies were all exploiting the internet's capacity to open up niche markets that their rivals with physical facilities, limited precisely by the lack of physical space, could not.
The author divides the idea of Free into four subcategories:cross-subsidies e.g give away the razor, sell the blade;advertising-supported services from radio and television to websites;freemium in which a small subset of users pay for a premium version, supporting a free version for the majority;and non-monetary markets in which participants motivated by non-financial considerations develop things like open-source software and Wikipedia.
Obviously at least the first two categories are old and the author readily acknowledges that. He argues that Free is not new but it is changing. What is different, he argues, is that Free can be more widely applied in the digital era. He argues that while last century's Free was a powerful marketing method, this century's Free is an entirely new economic model.
Beyond the old-fashioned cross-subsidies and free samples, some companies have found new ways to make Free work, but there are not many of them, and the sustainability of others is unclear.
The inability of the author to shed light as to which of these new models are likely to work and which are not is, in my judgement, a flaw in the book.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Just finished this.
A good, interesting book, but very annoying that there are next to no references. It makes his arguments weaker as you can't verify his sources.
This is more of an academic gripe, and the book is very good aside from this.
A good, interesting book, but very annoying that there are next to no references. It makes his arguments weaker as you can't verify his sources.
This is more of an academic gripe, and the book is very good aside from this.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In the spirit of Free, I didn't buy this book, but downloaded the ereader version gratis. The book's big claim is that Free is coming to dominate in business. This idea is propped up with some history of the roots of the concept of "zero". None of this is entirely convincing. And as you click through the pages, the grand thesis becomes much-diluted. What's left in an account of how business models are coping (in some cases with spectacular success) in a world where the marginal cost of all things digital falls by half each year: it's about digital abundance rather than gifting.
Still there is plenty of interesting, if not wildly new, material not least about how the Google business model rests on assuming in advance the giddy, inexorable lowering of data storage costs.
Anderson's take on things is pretty grounded in commercial realities - and certianly rings true for the digital world. But the forays into the non-digital world, such as the cheap-razors-expensive-blades Gillette model, are a little tired. There is also a touch of digital cheerleading. I read this on a trip to Kenya: injunctions to "manage for abundance, not scarcity" sound pretty hollow amid growing food scarcity.
But the way Anderson applies his perspective to some of the world's most exciting new businesses is intriguing and illuminating - and his conversational style in highly readable. Only digital natives, the under thirties, may find it all very predictable
Still there is plenty of interesting, if not wildly new, material not least about how the Google business model rests on assuming in advance the giddy, inexorable lowering of data storage costs.
Anderson's take on things is pretty grounded in commercial realities - and certianly rings true for the digital world. But the forays into the non-digital world, such as the cheap-razors-expensive-blades Gillette model, are a little tired. There is also a touch of digital cheerleading. I read this on a trip to Kenya: injunctions to "manage for abundance, not scarcity" sound pretty hollow amid growing food scarcity.
But the way Anderson applies his perspective to some of the world's most exciting new businesses is intriguing and illuminating - and his conversational style in highly readable. Only digital natives, the under thirties, may find it all very predictable
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Better then Long Tail, focused almost solely on web and media
The next morning I woke up after I had finished the book I had breakfast made of ingredients I paid for and then I commuted paying some real money for the tickets and somehow I... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mikolaj Pietrzyk
Freedom isn't free
The best things in life are free, or so the old saying goes. These days, however, it seems that more and more companies and retailers are trying to get us something for free, and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Dr. Bojan Tunguz
Not as good as Long Tail theory
I had a great expectation about FREE but it failed to meet that. The author started with historical background of how Free give away came into picture. Read more
Published on 15 May 2010 by Mobi
A very good read
Clearly well researched, Chris takes you through FREE, what it means and how it's being used more and more, and how, in many respects, is the ultimate pricing end point. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2010 by Mr. Gordon E. Piggott
Google economics for the rest of us
Encyclopedia of the New Economy by John Browning and Spencer Reiss was originally published as a three-part work in Wired magazine back in 1998. Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2009 by Mr. G. Carroll
Inisghts into the past but I'm not so sure about the future
I could not put this book down. It is a well written book and contains many historical insights. The author does give many insights into current business leaders - mainly Google -... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2009 by S. Rafiq
Don't start until you've read this
I was on the point of making a big online commitment (and possible costly mistake!) until I read this book and got my brain more into "what customers want" gear. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2009 by Malcolm Gallagher
Refreshing concept in the main, but unconvincing in parts
It is not under deliberation that everything should be free, but in today's competitive world more things can be and indeed are. Changing corporate dynamics and web 2. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2009 by Gaurav Sharma
A Riveting Read (Listen)
This review is really for the audio version of this book. Although you can pay for the book / audio book - in keeping with it's title you can also get it for free - try... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2009 by Daddy-O
a revealing read
A truly interesting book. One that reveals answers to some of the key marketing questions around... how can they afford to do that ! Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2009 by Mr. Paul Hemingway
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