Comments on: Can you compete with free? http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2007/02/19/can-you-compete-with-free/ Philip Hodgetts' random thoughts and items of interest on where the industry is at, and where it might be going today and into the future. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:02:00 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Philip http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2007/02/19/can-you-compete-with-free/comment-page-1/#comment-9547 Philip Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:14:47 +0000 http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2007/02/19/can-you-compete-with-free/#comment-9547 Have to disagree with you Julien from experience. Our purely digital content - Pro Apps Tips have been available free for years (progressively) in the Pro Apps Hub software but as pdfs they've bought in >$5000 of income in 8 months, more than half in the last 3 months. Lots of examples where free digital copies of books have been sold. If you look at my "Year without TV" posts, I'd cheerfully pay for what I'm getting for free now, if it were simpler, more convenient and fairly priced. The way you deliver is "added value". What you provide is added value. Cheers Philip Have to disagree with you Julien from experience. Our purely digital content – Pro Apps Tips have been available free for years (progressively) in the Pro Apps Hub software but as pdfs they’ve bought in >$5000 of income in 8 months, more than half in the last 3 months.

Lots of examples where free digital copies of books have been sold. If you look at my “Year without TV” posts, I’d cheerfully pay for what I’m getting for free now, if it were simpler, more convenient and fairly priced.

The way you deliver is “added value”. What you provide is added value.

Cheers

Philip

]]> By: Julien McArdle http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2007/02/19/can-you-compete-with-free/comment-page-1/#comment-9544 Julien McArdle Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:17:37 +0000 http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2007/02/19/can-you-compete-with-free/#comment-9544 Added value cannot work in a purely digital environment, because the pirate with whom you're supposedly competing with can recreate and completely undermine that concept added value. It really only works where a physical non-digital presence is of greater value than the purely digital version - ie. books. It does not bode well, however, for those entirely reliant upon the digital for their entire distribution. To be honest, I don't think the problem is about competing with free. "Competing" implies different products, whereby the best product will win out. In the case of piracy, there's only one product. The competition is who will win out: the product that's being sold for money, or the exact same product that's being given away for free. Again, the notion of added value is irrelevant in a digital world where it can all be recreated. Added value cannot work in a purely digital environment, because the pirate with whom you’re supposedly competing with can recreate and completely undermine that concept added value. It really only works where a physical non-digital presence is of greater value than the purely digital version – ie. books.

It does not bode well, however, for those entirely reliant upon the digital for their entire distribution.

To be honest, I don’t think the problem is about competing with free. “Competing” implies different products, whereby the best product will win out. In the case of piracy, there’s only one product. The competition is who will win out: the product that’s being sold for money, or the exact same product that’s being given away for free. Again, the notion of added value is irrelevant in a digital world where it can all be recreated.

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