More on the current wave of digitization…by Bernard Lunn.
“Readers will be able to order any book in the universe and have it sent to them in print wherever they want or sent digitally to whatever device they have. Readers have grown accustomed to getting their online content for free, so they will expect to get at least a degraded experience via the regular browser (the “free” in freemium). This will take a while to play out. We live in a world today of bilateral negotiations, so different titles are available for different devices and in different bookstores. But play out it will.
Here is my free review of my free copy of “Free.”
Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, recently came out with the book “Free: The Future of a Radical Price.” So the question of whether books will be free in the future is a natural one to ask. The short answer is, No. If books became free, authors would stop writing, printers would stop printing, and electronics factories would stop churning out e-book readers. In other words, there would be nothing to read… except…free excerpts and promotional stuff.
The kicker: How much does Chris Anderson’s “Free” book cost on Amazon? List price: $26.99, discounted to $16.19. Not free.
But Free on Scribd.
NOTHING is ever free
Free content? Nope. Someone will have to pay for it….you, your organization, advertisers. Content that is truly free is worth every penny – and no more than that.