It’s not yet March (check time: yes, we have another 23 minutes of this extra day of February, or at least, we did when I started this parenthesis), but I will state that the word of the year for 2008 is free. That’s free, not as in freedom, but as in $0.00.
Chris Anderson has just published an article in Wired explaining Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business. It’s a preview of the book he’s writing. As I’ve previously noted, the book won’t be out until 2009. I don’t know what the word of 2009 will be.
So back to the word of 2008: free. That’s how much I’ll charge you for these links.
- Glyn linked to…
- Mike at TechDirt, who linked to…
- a trendwatching report on the ongoing rise of ‘free stuff’, which has a silly title.
- Neil Gaiman explained why he likes giving things away: including, and especially, the books from which he makes a living.
- Harlan Ellison takes a rather different view, as you can see from the video posted by Paul DiFi.
- Rather less colorful, but equally contrarian in this year of free, are Alex Iskold’s warning about The Danger of Free, and his advice to Beware of Freeconomics.
Much though I consider Harlan and Alex to be worth reading, I find my own views to be closer to those of Neil and Chris.