Re: News Corp will charge for newspaper websites, says Rupert Murdoch

On 8 May, 12:59, Cynic <cynic_...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 7 May 2009 10:08:05 -0700 (PDT), Jethro

<jethro...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Can anyone name a well-established internet presence who started off
with "free" content, and then managed to charge for it ?

Most re-brand before charging.  I can think of a couple off the top of
my head.  BestCrypt seems to enjoy reasonable sales despite the fact
that TrueCrypt is a free program that is almost identical (and almost
certainly shares large amounts of the same source code).  I'm pretty
certain that both were developed from Shaun Hollingworth's free
"scramdisk" program, BICBW.  The free Truecrypt is the better  choice
IMO because AFAIAA the source code is available to anyone who wishes
to (a) check for "back doors" and other weaknesses and (b) ensure that
the source code matches the distributed executables.

AVG still offer a free version, but are pushing their paid versions
very hard, and I would not be surprised to see a gradual crippling of
the free version to make the paid versions more attractive.

Other applications I have come across (though no names come to mind),
offer a free download but charge for support.  If the application is
reasonably complex they are likely to make a fair whack from the
support calls whilst maintaining the appearance of a generous outfit
giving their stuff away.  ISTM a reasonable business model, because
applications without any copy protect are going to get pirated, and
embedding adequate copy protect features can result in more quirks and
bugs than the application itself, increasing customer dissatisfaction
and program maintainance costs.

--
Cynic

Apples and oranges ...

The thrust of the thread was towards news-based sites, which change
content regularly ... computer *applications* are a different beast.

However, I suspect we'll evolve to a mixed-content model, where basic,
easily available content is free, and "value-added" content is paid
for, either per-access, or by subscription.

This is what Murdoch is running scared from. People are start to
question what "value" papers add to the news ....
.

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