I recently read a book by Chris Anderson called FREE. The audio was free at Audible.com and the electronic version of the book was free at Amazon.com. Chris is smart and the book is thought provoking. I enjoyed both the electronic version and the audio version but I wanted more. I needed the hardback book. I needed the ability to reference, tag, tab and highlight the book. I paid $26.00 for a book I already had for free (in both the electronic and auditory formats). Chris created buzz about FREE and gave the book away for a month. Guess what? He got a premium from me. I paid more for his book then any other books on Amazon. No Super Saver option on that book but I didn’t care. I wanted it.

Sometimes free works but sometimes it doesn’t. Given a choice to pay $1.49 for a loaf of Aunt Millie’s bread or get a free moldy loaf, I chose $1.49 over the mental and stomach issues of free. Given the opportunity to have technology that I don’t use for free or something I pay for and generate millions from, I chose the paid version.

Sometimes Free technology is dangerous. It creates disincentives, is not as user friendly, does not do everything you want it to and sucks up time and energy. The next time your organization offers you free technology and zero support from the internal team or the vendor, you need to think about the lost productivity and revenue. You could be wasting millions by getting free. That is the most expensive Freebie I have ever heard of. Free still has a price.