Free and Gladwell
Its been interesting reading through the back and forth that has developed this week around Chris Anderson’s new book, Free. Its an important book that explores the concept that in the future, the best business models will offer products for free.
The reality is that ‘free’ is already becoming the norm, which is pretty handy for Chris because it gave him plenty of examples to fill the book with (Ryanair, Spotify etc). I haven’t read it yet, but I am looking forward to it, and having been engaged in the free vs paid debate for the last two years, as it applies to journalism, I am pleased that the spotlight of attention will intensify again.
What made me want to write however was Malcolm Gladwell’s dour review in the New Yorker. I am no fan of Gladwell, or his drawn-out books, and this review highlights why. His efforts to break down Anderson’s arguments, coupled with his retaliation of ‘what are all the journalists supposed to do’, is long-winded, and misses the point. Much as with Blink, the passage could have been shrunk by 98% and still got the same point across.
Gladwell’s argument is irrelevant. The growth of high-speed internet means that content is widely, and freely available, like never before. Businesses and commentators should be focused on how to adapt to this reality, rather than trying to gun-down the circumstances which caused it to be so.
