Free
the future of a radical price
by Chris Anderson · first published 2009
36% recommend56% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Explains how companies profit by giving things away, with many internet-business examples. Useful for brainstorming business models, and a chapter on monetizing piracy in China and Brazil gets singled out.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The New York Times bestselling author heralds the future of business in Free.In his revolutionary bestseller, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson demonstrated how the online marketplace creates niche markets, allowing products and consumers to connect in a way that has never been possible before. Now, in Free, he makes the compelling case that in many instances businesses can profit more from giving things away than they can by charging for them. Far more than a promotional gimmick, Free is a business strategy that may well be essential to a company’s survival.The costs associated with the growing o
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2007–2025The Long Tail
Chris Anderson
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 307 recommend · 30 mention7 recommend · 307 recommend
2008–2023Here comes everybody
Clay Shirky
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 2211 recommend · 22 mention11 recommend · 2211 recommend
2007–2024Shantaram
Gregory David Roberts
Recommended by 21 · mentioned by 2921 recommend · 29 mention21 recommend · 2921 recommend
2010–2020The Facebook Effect
David Kirkpatrick
Recommended by 13 · mentioned by 4013 recommend · 40 mention13 recommend · 4013 recommend
2008–2026Capitalism and freedom
Milton Friedman
Recommended by 22 · mentioned by 5022 recommend · 50 mention22 recommend · 5022 recommend
2007–2025The Dip
Seth Godin
Recommended by 40 · mentioned by 5940 recommend · 59 mention40 recommend · 5940 recommend
2009–2026American Gods
Neil Gaiman
Recommended by 35 · mentioned by 8135 recommend · 81 mention35 recommend · 8135 recommend
2007–2026Stumbling on happiness
Daniel T. Gilbert
Recommended by 38 · mentioned by 5238 recommend · 52 mention38 recommend · 5238 recommend
My favourite books read lately are Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky and Perrotta's Metaprogramming Ruby. If you haven't read Free by Chris Anderson, it's also highly recommended. It's just an article, but Anarconomy by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies was a very interesting read (http://www.cifs.dk/doc/medlemsrapporter/MR0309UK.pdf).…
on “Ask HN: Summer Reading Recommendations?” ↗I would recommend Chris Anderson's "Free: How Today's Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for Nothing" book - http://www.amazon.com/Free-Smartest-Businesses-Something-Not... to anyone interested in this topic.
on “Freemium Model” ↗Free - Chris Anderson; 4 Steps to Epiphany; Founders at Work; Crossing the Chasm; Viral Loop; Groundswell; Loosing My Virginity - Richard Brandson; Good to Great - Collins; Entrepreneurs guide to Business…
on “Ask HN: I want to start a web company what books should I read?” ↗I just finished FREE by Chris Anderson. It's a free download at Audible.com. I highly recommend that people listen to the book as it's only about 6 hours long.
on “Why Free Plans Don’t Work” ↗I usually don't like to cite any popular tech books, but there is a great chapter in "Free" by Chris Anderson on examples where piracy is being monetized in China, Brazel, etc. It's probably one of the best parts of the book.
on “The Gaiman Principle: piracy is advertising & why Ramen Music encourages sharing” ↗Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson A really interesting book which explains how companies can make money by offering stuff for free. Many examples from various internet-based companies.…
on “Ask HN - what interesting books did you read this year (including non tech)?” ↗I have yet to see any new points in the disussion of free content since reading Chris Anderson's book FREE back in 2009. The one possible exception would be the advent of Patreon and to a lesser extent Kickstarter, but these are basically just subsets of the…
on “Grappling with the ‘Culture of Free’ in Napster’s Aftermath” ↗…publicly quantify popularity of your site. This gives bloggers and businesses easy access to your numbers. People like to talk with popular sites. You might want to check out Chris Anderson's book on Free: the Future of a Radical Price as a good source for brainstorming business models.
on “Ask HN: My site's popular. How would YOU monetise it?” ↗…Some new insights that aren't on the blog Superfreakonomics by Stephen Levitt and Dubner Blink, The Tipping Point and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (I liked The Tipping Point the best out of those 3) Free by...Chris Anderson (?) I forget. Very interesting. Team Up by Pete Mockaitis - Great read about accountability groups, subset of a mastermind group IMO. Collapse by Jared Diamond - Very interesting…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗…the Bloomington School Hitchens on Orwell Kling on Freddie and Fannie and the Recent History of the U.S. Housing Market Karol Boudreaux on Wildlife, Property, and Poverty in Africa Chris Anderson on Free Taleb on Black Swans
on “Ask HN: Recommend me a Podcast” ↗…of my favorite authors. His simplistic tone coupled with his abstract and imaginative topics make for enjoyable and inspiring reads. If you haven't read his books, I highly recommend the two classics: Free, The Future Of A Radical Price and The Long Tail. I just noticed he's released a new book, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. Anyone here read it yet? http://www.amazon.com/Chris-Anderson/e/B001JRVGAG"…
on “It's old, I know, however, still inspiring (Chris Anderson)” ↗Wired's Chris Anderson wrote a great book called "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" and is relevant to this "post-scarcity" future. He has a speech here and the book is on Amazon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8l64NpaCnE
on “Post Scarcity Economics” ↗Website was super slow for me, so here's the text of the offer You can blame it on Chris Anderson's book Free. After reading his book, I started kicking around the idea of what we can do that's 'free'. Sure, we have free bits (open-source hardware designs, available code, etc.), but we don't have free physical…
on “Sparkfun giving away $100 per person in free electronics+S/H on 1/7/10” ↗One reference is “Free” by Chris Anderson, https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp... DHH has written about abundance as part of his approach to Rails, https://world.hey.com/dhh/i-won-t-let-you-pay-me-for-my-open...…
on “Why Web3?” ↗Yes, there's a lot of heat over Chris Anderson's "Free: The Future of a Radical Price". I had no idea how much - nor had bother to look at the occasional link here, so I appreciate RWW pulling together the players: - The book: http://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp/...…
on “Free: It works, it cries, it bites. Review wars over "Free"” ↗