Nothing seems to grab folk’s attention like the word ‘free’.
‘Buy one, get one free’. It’s everywhere. Ads on TV simply shout it in all those ads about products that seem to be about making our lives so much easier. It starts with ‘But wait’ and then the pitch to buy one and get another one free (except for shipping and handling). The fine print will bump up the free product to make the total quite pricey, but folks just buy into the word ‘free’.
Then there is the phrase ‘Free download’ for a software program. Granted, some free downloads work as promised, but those are few and getting fewer all the time.
With a few exceptions all of those promised ‘free’ programs come with stuff users probably don’t want, like the infamous Ask toolbar. This little ‘gem’ will change your home page, take over your search and generally frustrate you no end.
The problem is nothing is really free in the long run. The free programs that don’t push unwanted stuff on your computer may be free now, but they hope you will buy the pro version and/or at least donate to their cause. Some of these may contain ‘nagware’ Then there are the sneaky free downloads that aren’t even what you wanted in the first place. The How-To Geek has a great page about all of this stuff. I wrote about the sneaky install on Martha’s Web too.
The point I am trying to make though, is the word ‘free’ is what grabs people’s attention and may cause unintended consequences. If you have to buy something before you get that ‘free’ thing, it isn’t free. If you have to provide personal information to get something, it isn’t free.
Longtime Internet users got spoiled with free stuff, but those days are getting shorter and shorter and the ‘free stuff’ is not really free any more.
1 comment:
I drop a comment each time I appreciate a post on a blog or if I have something to add to
the discussion. It's a result of the sincerness communicated in the article I read. And after this article The Magic Word Is Free. I was actually moved enough to drop a thought ;) I do have a few questions for you if it's
allright. Could it be just me or does it give the impression like
a few of these responses come across like coming from brain dead visitors?
:-P And, if you are writing at other places,
I would like to follow you. Would you make a list every one of all your communal sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
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