Free: the future of a radical price (Free) is a book by Chris Andersen, the editor of Wired and author of the book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More.
Free and profit form an apparent contradiction that is reshaping industries and who we think of commerce. Chris Andersen unpacks the contradictions in Free creating one of the better business books I have read so far this year.
I paid for the book and read it on a flight from Chicago to Europe. I was ok paying for the book as I like to write/highlight different parts for future reference.
People in the US can read the book online for ‘free’ at : www.scribd.com/doc/17135767/FREE-full-book-by-Chris-Anderson
The book is a quick and breezy read, which may give people the idea that the concept is a little ‘lite.’ It is important to recommend that Andersen is a journalist rather than a business academic or consultant.
In many ways, the book and Andersen’s popularity are a function of the ideas in Free. Andersen acquired this knowledge through interacting with others and this book is the work of a ‘maven’ who wants to share that knowledge with others. This puts the book in the same category as Crowdsourcing or Outliers rather than the work of Clayton Christensen, Gary Hamel or Jim Collins. Once you understand the context, its possible to appreciate the book for what it is.
I recommend this book for several reasons. First it is a book that discusses the concept of ‘free’ in our economy, society, personal and professional lives. In taking this approach, Andersen is able to take a surprising complex idea and explain it fully. Second, the book presents these ideas in a clear fashion with ideas building upon one another.
Free is one of the few business books that seeks to build understanding rather than just explaining an idea. I think that many will see “free” as an idea of selling things for no price, which seems like a fairly simple construct. However, if you think about the concept and the examples in the book you can apply them to our own situation.
The first eight chapters of this book are strong and well worth the read. That is about ½ of the book. After that the quality of the writing and the clarity of the ideas falters somewhat – still valuable, but it would have been great if the back half of the book got into more detail and more examples rather than largely rehashing the earlier concepts.
Recommended for business leaders and executives who want to understand more about the notion of offering things for “free.” Marketing personnel and those working in companies with a strong information component to their products and services should find this book helpful in crystallizing their ideas.
Strengths
Well-written and easy to read as the concepts are illustrated by case examples outside Internet companies.
Good graphics particularly at the beginning of the book that illustrate the flow of information and value.
The concept of ‘free’ is treated from different perspectives including a historical and social point of view.
The book discusses treats “free” as a concept which enable the reader to concentrate on understanding the issues rather than having to listen to a diatribe advancing one point of view, which is a weakness in other consulting based books.
Challenges
Andersen is a journalist and maven, therefore much of these ideas are not his own. This is ok once you know that is book is an exposition of an idea rather than a scholarly work. You will recognize some of these ides from other authors – it would have been good to provide some attribution.
The book does concentrate heavily on Google almost to the exclusion of other companies who are pursuing “free” as a strategy. Like other books about Google – the treatment is high level and partial.
Free is the place where Marketing meets Operations, yet Andersen does not provide insight into the operational considerations of free – other than the observation that the cost of everything goes to zero and therefore can be ‘wasted.’
As an experiment in the “free” world, if you found this review helpful I would appreciate your spending a moment of your time to go to the same posting on amazon.com and expressing your opinion by voting for the review. http://tinyurl.com/mh3dpl
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