A lot of the examples are outdated now. It would be interesting to see a new edition of this book. ( )

Just finished although it's been languishing on my shelf since 2010. Wish I'd read it then.

Best line was:

Free may be the best price, but it can't be the only one.

Great book. ( )

Free on Kindle - go figure!

Fascinante libro del autor de La economía Long tail, que de nuevo sacude los cimientos de lo que tenía por establecido.

En este libro se hace un repaso de os modelos e negocio de la era digital, que pasan o acabarán pasando (y esta es la tesis central del autor) por tener gran parte de los contenidos gratis. Tras el repaso a los modelos de negocios "subvencionados" (material gratis financiado por publicidad) y "freemium" (la mayoría no paga, los muy fanáticos del juego pagan y subvencionan a todos los demás), como principales modelos de negocio, pasamos por la historia de algunas empresas que se han basado en este modelo (Google la primera) y se desmontan las críticas, mostradas al final del libro para que nos resulten ridículas y desinformadas, al modelo del "todo gratis", llamado así por sus críticos, pero que nosotros ya sabemos que no es todo gratis.

Un libro fascinante que convence. Los modelos de negocio en Internet (coste marginal por unidad=0) han cambiado.

El autor acaba de publicar "Makers", sobre el mundo que se nos viene con impresoras 3D. Habrá que leerlo sin falta. ( )

Ever wonder who (or how) all that free stuff gets paid for? Chris compares atoms to bytes and explains why free is so popular and a good price to make money from! ( )

Thought-provoking discussion of how the new Free economy works and how it can be sustainable. ( )

The author analyzes the various marketing possibilities of FREE. The various avenues to upsell and crossell while giving away something for free as the teaser.

The author analyzes the various marketing possibilities of FREE. The various avenues to upsell and crossell while giving away something for free as the teaser.

I'm a tad split on my opinion of Chris Anderson and his works. He's a terrific cheerleader for the tech industry and how it can improve our daily lives, but his thesis here (as in the Long Tail) over-stretches and over-simplifies. For every valid point, there's a glaring omission; for every insight there's a woeful misstep.

Still though, worth it for me for its references to the music industry and a well-structured argument as to why my generation and younger have difficulty, shall we say, in paying for anything online. ( )

se continuarmos a viver num mundo com cada vez mais ofertas gratis na internet apenas consegue sobreviver quem souber construir o equilibrio entre o que vai oferecer e de que forma vai recuperar o dinheiro. sera o mais inteligente quem conseguir identificar os extras considerados como relevantes p o consumidor. uma leitura interessante q revela metalidades muito diferentes entre o consumidor do futuro e o actual ( )

A generational and global shift is at play - those below 30 won't pay for information, knowing it will be available somewhere for free. ( )

This is a fascinating book that explores the concept of free. Not free as in buy one, get one free type schemes of 20th century sales, but truly free in ways that had not been done before, like Wikipedia or Google or all the freemium websites (free with a paid for premium version). It's pretty interesting just as a new style of marketing and business and primarily built off the idea that in the digital world bytes and bandwidth are becoming cheaper and cheaper almost to the point of not worth counting their cost relative to per person sales or accounts.

It was intriguing especially just in terms of thinking about how I've been doing almost a similar thing in my own "web business", doing a lot of free sites and getting more and more paid jobs as we go. ( )

A nice coda to The Long Tail. Chris Anderson is a journalist, publisher, and someone who can write about economics for a public audience.

I happen to drink the Kool-Aide connected to information abundance and how so much of the existing information distribution business is being disrupted by digital media and I think Anderson makes a very strong very accessible case that this is happening.

He's more accessible than Benkler. Even more so that Shirky or Weinberger, but he does so without sacrificing rigor. What Anderson does differently than the scholarly crowd is to take up the argument for information abundance from the business point of view.

Highly recommended, even though I'm late to the party and his examples are starting to get a touch dated. ( )

A nice coda to The Long Tail. Chris Anderson is a journalist, publisher, and someone who can write about economics for a public audience.

I happen to drink the Kool-Aide connected to information abundance and how so much of the existing information distribution business is being disrupted by digital media and I think Anderson makes a very strong very accessible case that this is happening.

He's more accessible than Benkler. Even more so that Shirky or Weinberger, but he does so without sacrificing rigor. What Anderson does differently than the scholarly crowd is to take up the argument for information abundance from the business point of view.

Highly recommended, even though I'm late to the party and his examples are starting to get a touch dated. ( )

Must read if you're trying to live in the internet economy. ( )

Just finished reading the book. Although I do think I am one of the generation that Anderson describes as being familiar with the concept of free, I found the book giving me great insights and new leads on how current Information Initiatives can, and should, be altered for the good of many. Much too often do I see examples of "digital atom businesses" being turned into a business model that has it roots in the early 1900's. Great work by Anderson explaining how - and why - no to do so. ( )

I really like this book. I listened to it in my car, but did not read a hard-copy version. and yes... it was the free versionIt was inspriring to find out that a 'free' model can work for a lot of products. The book re-introduced me to marketing and economics theory I had studied in the past. The anecdotes and background stories from the history of marketing and business models was really good. I will listen to this one at least one other time and I have recommendeid it to several other people. A must read for anyone who is working in marketing or is interested in how a price of 0 totally makes sense. ( )

I only got this book because it was free and I like to listen to audiobooks on my commute. I would not have otherwise purchased it, because it is not in my usual realm of interest.

Overall I thought this was a good overview of the concept of Free in a capitalist society. There are some nice case-studies of different products and corporations that have either succeeded or failed in offering things for "free" (or apparently free).

This would be a good book for Econ and Business oriented people. ( )

The price was right!

haha, just kidding. I'd have paid for this book, even though I did get it for free (gratis, not libre).

It's quite an interesting look at the nature of digital economies (and is not too technical/complicated for a dummy like me to follow).

If you're not looking into the mass-production of items in the digital world, or you're not a small business owner heading out into the internet realm, and you're not a geek-head who likes to know stuff about the economics of the internet... you might not really find any "use" out of this information.

I must fall in the last category 'cause I liked learning this stuff, even though it's completely useless knowledge since I don't own a business, don't pirate or buy pirated items, and don't spend much time on the internet other than to write some book reviews. ( )

This is one easy book that explain the difference from old economy matters & new business surviving models. It is written by Chris Anderson the former author of "The long tail" a must of technology books. Google example is reported in some aspects as microsoft declining in O.S. market. The Moore's law is another reference for understanding the actual situation & the future, that will provide more possibility than impossibility. Many others example treated into the book are: wikipedia, NYT, nestcape, google docs etc..

The book (257 pages) has three section for 16 chapters. In the last chapter I look one idea of reading: The High Cost of Free Parking - Donald Shoup that explain the value of nature in relation to man. ( )

Another good book by Anderson. This walks you through the various 'Free' business models that are rising across the Internet and examines trends for products where marginal cost is nearly $0. ( )

Wired magazine editor in chief Chris Anderson follows the success of his earlier book, "The Long Tail" (about mining what might otherwise be seen as marginal endeavors to create great successes), with this exploration of how we can benefit in many ways--including economically--by giving things away. It's a great complement to Tapscott and Williams' "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" in that it is a paean to the power of collaboration in our onsite-online world. Anderson's puckish sense of humor, furthermore, keeps what is in essence a treatise on Internet/Web 2.0 economics engaging and entertaining; his comments about another writer's half-hearted attempt to experiment with "Free" (pp. 232-233), for example, capture the spirit of his work as he dissects the work of that other writer (Steven Poole), then offers a parenthetical aside ("Rather than being a failed Free business model, it's no business model at all...sorry, Poole!"). He also puts his (and his publisher's) money where his mouth is: "Free" appeared briefly as a free download on the Internet, and a free abridged audiobook version remains available at http://hyperionbooks.com/free/. The printed (not-free) book begins with "Free 101: A Short Course on a Most Misunderstood Word," helps provide background often missing from thoughts about familiar phrases including Stewart Brand's "information wants to be free" (Chapter 6), and ends with pithy rebuttals to 14 thoughts commonly proposed by those who maintain that Free is not a workable economic model. His conclusion is both reassuring and grounded in common sense: Free does not mean that there is no room for profit; "...Free is not enough; It also has to be matched with Paid" (p. 240)--an idea far less radical than we otherwise might have expected to find among Free's numerous proponents. ( )

In a clear an concise way, Wired editor Chris Anderson efficiently summarizes the various economical models behind Free content and services. The concepts are easy to understand and very well illustrated with relevant real-life examples. Ever wondered how Ryanair manages to sell flights at 0.99£ and yet make money? How come Google Earth is free and yet profits Google even though there is no advertisement? How can a newspaper offer all its content for free online and simultaneously gaining new subscribers for its print version? What is the business model behind Flickr.com? Anderson offers insights in all these questions and more! ( )

One of the best books on the economics of FREE. ( )