The trick with free is you need to leverage the free part to increase the value of something that is scarce and that you control, which is not easily copied.
Techdirt’s Mike Masnick, Free Gone Wrong... Or Free Done Wrong
Specialists tend to use their familiar tool in contexts where it doesn’t make sense. We can't fault them for that, if you've never seen a screwdriver, you'll naturally reach for a hammer first. An inspiring post on Expert Generalists on MartingFowler.com (via
Organizing your email is like alphabetizing your recycling Merlin Mann, Inbox zero inventor, sharing wisdom in his Wisdom project on Github
We’re a field premised on automating other people’s jobs away. “Productivity gains,” say the economists. You get what that means, right? Fewer people doing the same stuff. Talked to a travel agent lately? Or a floor broker? Or a record store clerk? Or a darkroom tech? Thomas Ptacek,
we know that one of three things happens when people use a machine to automate a task they would otherwise have done themselves:Their skill in the activity grows.Their skill in the activity atrophies.Their skill in the activity never develops. Nicholas Carr, on The Myth of Automated Learning