Random Ramblings

"Free" is UN-AMERICAN??

There have been some grumblings about how cities should not be allowed to provide free wireless internet service to their citizens because it is anti-competitive and hence UN-AMERICAN!! The rationale is that if governments provide the service for free, then how can businesses compete with that?

Well ... ummm ... they can't. And why is that my problem?

This is what is known as a "bad business model." Think of the dot-com bust -- those weren't good business that hit a tight spot; they were bad businesses. WebVan -- the grocery delivery service -- was an absolutely GREAT idea!! But it was a bad business model -- no one wants to pay that much for their groceries. Internet advertising?? Bad business model -- 99.9999999999% of web users completely ignore banner ads -- who is going to pay you for ads that no one views? Telemarketers?? Bad business model -- no one wants to be hassled at home for cheap trinkets or phone service equivalent to the service we currently have.

The same is true with paid-for wireless vendors in cities. If someone else can offer it for free, then it is a bad business model. This is not a business in need of protection from "un-American" forces ... it is a bad business model that deserves to fail.

Similar logic has been applied to release of weather data and satellite photos -- again, if the gov't gives them away for free, how can businesses make money? In this case, we'll have to ignore the fact that the people (through the gov't) were actually the ones who paid for the weather data to be collected in the first place, so why shouldn't they get it free? But as is often the case in such political issues, we'll just throw away those facts that aren't convenient. Again, if your business is making money on the laziness of people, then it is a bad business model and we as a country should not support it or prop it up.