Free content: Why not?
Greg Blonder,
News.Com,
Apr 03, 2003
If you produce educational content and hope to get paid for it, read this article closely. The author is describing exactly the distribution model for music that I am predicting for educational content. He begins, "The best way to stem this tidal wave of thievery is to give the music away." How so? He draws the comparison with coal. When vendors marketed to individual consumers, the mechanics of delivery were so complicated that losses were inevitable. But when coal - repurposed as 'central heating' - was bundled with another service, such as rent, the complexities of distribution disappeared, the theft rate vanished, people got what they wanted - free heat - and yet the coal distributors were still paid. It's the same thing for music. "Buy a new Kia? Get 1,000 albums with every car. Purchase a lifetime subscription to the Boston Symphony Orchestra? Receive an MP3 player with a library of the world's 2,000 most important classical music selections. Sign up for a new cellular contract? Get unlimited access to music from over 30,000 indie bands." And it's the same thing for educational content. But a globe? Get an interactive atlas. Buy a piano? get piano lessons. In slogan form (clip and save): Content isn't the product. Content is what makes the product better.
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