On Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:55:12 +0100, Invisible wrote:

>>> - Advertising.
>> 
>> Adblock Pro is what I use to avoid that. :-)
>> 
>> But I agree that it's annoying - the latest trend that I really dislike
>> is on many news sites, they now break a story down into multiple
>> "pages" - and on each page, the space for the story is a small
>> percentage of the total space.
> 
> Yeah, that too.
> 
>>> - Stuff which is "free", yet you still have to "register" to actually
>>> get it.
>> 
>> "Free" always comes with a cost when dealing with a commercial entity.
>> You get something, the provider gets something.  Them giving you
>> something and getting nothing in return doesn't give them reason to
>> give stuff away for free.  Commercial businesses are in business for
>> one reason:  to turn a profit.  So everything they do is in pursuit of
>> that goal.
> 
> Some companies give stuff away for free, and it really *is* free.
> Usually because you using it gives the company some other kind of
> advantage. E.g., Acrobat Reader is utterly free. Anybody can easily
> obtain it, install it, copy it around, put it on 20 PCs, no
> restrictions, no limitations. Because that way, Adobe can go "Hey, buy
> Acrobat Professional! Because EVERYBODY HAS ACROBAT READER..."

Except that Acrobat Reader isn't free either; it's used as a way to make 
PDF more widely acceptable as a document format, which means they sell 
more of their creation tools.  It's paid for by offsetting its costs with 
an increase (maybe very slight incremental per product sold) for Adobe's 
other products.

So in the end, they give the reader away for purely selfish reasons; it's 
not altruism.

>> Of course, you could always use a jetable mail address or a mailinator
>> address.
> 
> I still object to having to jump through hoops to get something that's
> supposed to be "free".

"Free" is a marketing term when it comes to commercial ventures.  Like 
"buy 2, get one free" isn't really one for free, it's three for the price 
of two, and the business has decided that the margins on two are large 
enough to cover the cost of the third and still make a profit.

Or collecting stamps/points/whatever to get a "free" airline flight, 
subway sandwich, or whatever - you're paying for that "free" one each 
time you use their service or purchase their product.  If you don't 
participate, you're paying a premium *not* to participate.

Jim

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