I pay for apps on my mobile that I would not pay for in my browser. I’m not sure why. Convenience? Habit? The ease of purchasing an app on iTunes vs. entering credit card information for content in a browser? This past week, I encountered two articles that forecast the end of free content online and the closing of the digital frontier. Both articles start with the same (mis)quote of “information wants to be free”. The closing of the digital frontier then moves on to exploring the roots of the philosophy of free and openness, arguing that it is “an idea that we have largely taken for granted [that] is in fact the product of a very specific ideology.” Both articles explore the growth of paid-apps on mobiles. The CS Monitor article focuses more on content – TV programs, Youtube rentals, pay walls. Both, however, suggest that we are in the twilight of the free and open content movements. The open and free ideology is essentially labelled as one that has failed…a cover for a land grab – a Manifest Destiny of sorts. The “colonization and exploitation of the web was a foregone conclusion”.
-
‹ Home
Contents
-
Categories
-
Tags
Adoption Articles Blogging Classification/Ontologies Collaboration Community Connectivism Content Content Management Copyright/IP/DRM Design Elearning Evaluation/Assessment/ROI Games/Simulations Information Architecture Innovation Instructional Design Knowledge Management Learning Learning Objects Legal LMS Media Networks Open Source Podcasting Random Thoughts Research Resources ROI Search Semantic Web SNA Social Standards Storytelling Teaching Technology Theories Tools Trends Usability Wiki Wireless/PDAs XML
-
Archives
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
Blogroll
-
RSS Feeds
-
Meta
9 Comments
It could be, as I think Apple and their vendors would like you to believe, that you’re paying for a higher quality experience. I don’t know that this is true, but I also noticed this possibility when, soon after the release iPad Apple announced new restrictions on app development, and I heard about the Wired app, etc etc.
Thanx for links!
There are very similar ideas in the blog of a russian guy (i can’t find the link D:). He is writing about Apple and even Android trends, that are leading us to the closing.
I think Apple and the old media companies would love this to be the case so that they can go back to charging for content.
Being optimitic (at the moment) I suspect that we are not seeing the ‘end of free’. There are a large number of people providing content free of charge to the web; some of it advertising supported and some of it not. I think people genuinely like doing that and like being part of the conversation around that content.
It may take a long time but I hope to see the open availability of content as being key drivers of social and professional reputation in the knowledge professions.
I think we’ll also see demands for much content that is generated from public funding being made available for ‘free’
On the application front, free and open source applications continue to grow in usage. I think they will continue to sit alongside paid for applications and we’ll have a growth in the freemium model, particularly for web apps.
Just one or two thoughts.
I may well be wrong but in health and midwifery I am seeing people just starting to think about open sharing and OER. OER is being discussed in a way that it wouldn’t even have been considered a couple of years ago, or even a year ago. There are still barriers, not least the attitudes of academic institutions, but I have been most heartened over the last 6 months that at long last my midwifery/nursing/medical colleagues are starting to talk and ‘open’ and ‘free’.
Will there be an end to free content online. May I share my belief? It is impossible to end the free content online. Why? We had once licenced TV,then free, then paid, then… now internet, and Youtube, and even if someone is to turn them into paid service, like Ning, what will happen, some others would provide free service, like free open education, free “learning”. I have once been a volunteer, and everything that I do was free, and now many of us as educators are giving free and sharing these “education”. Why? For some an spirit of altruism, or others some may say that it is purely out of the desire to “change” the world by modelling it themselves. So, this push for free, like democracy, would just continue IMHO, unless there are some unforeseen events which would turn such economy backwards (e.g. wars? or the shut down of internet?) We have seen those wars based on price & competition for customers etc. (on news media, on music etc.) and everytime it comes to some “equilibrium trough”. So, let’s wait and see how someone could control the black hole – internet.
John
The Atlantic piece was very odd. It far overstates the ideology it purports to describe. For instance, that horrible Time piece wasn’t scotched by frantic digerati, but had a huge influence on policy, leading to the first CDA.
One thought to your question, George: in the Great Recession, paying for stuff has a different meaning than before Lehman Bros bought it. There’s less joyous bling, and more, well, civic duty. Purchasing stuff is more fraught, less fun.
@Jared – thanks for the reminder of your post – great comments/discussion on the topic of open web vs. app approach.
@Mark – like you, I don’t think this is the end of free…but it is a resurgence in paid content. Well, that’s not quite true. The medium has always been the point of monetization: we pay for the physical newspaper, not for news…we pay for an internet connection, not the content…we pay for satellite/cable TV, not the programs. In the same sense, we are now paying for the medium of the ipad/phone/pod in the form of apps.
@Sarah – I view OERs as very different from what’s happening in content in news/books, etc. If the public funds research and thereby content (in the form of articles, learning materials, etc), then it belongs to the public. As such, I see OERs as a moral/ethical concern.
@John – you’re right about the difficulty of controlling the internet. However, as mentioned in my comment to Mark – the medium is the point of monetization.
@Bryan – interesting take on the different meaning of “payment” post-Lehman. Do you see that as a catalyst for the move to closed/paid models now being explored by newspapers and other content providers?
George I agree with you when you say what will be paid is the medium and not the content. There is an increasing demand for open content also due to the global crisis.
But knowledge can not remain closed, just see your example …
What I think is happening is a trend of lobbyists to promote this kind of discussion and convey the message that paid content of better quality (which is not always true).
Here in Portugal, online newspapers have tried to do this kind of experience (and I think they are now preparing for second round) where it had a paid subscription could view the entire contents of a news story – the result, other newspapers have gained prominence.
I do not believe there will be an end to free web content. People have always/and will always find ways to get things for free through the web. There are also many people who take great pride in sharing products/knowledge with everyone free of charge. while there might be many providers that will charge for their content, their will also always be those who simply like to make people happy; and what better way to make some one happy then by providing them with something for FREE!