"In fact, freemium models can push
vendors toward better services because their revenue
relies on impressing you, a free customer, enough that you
are willing to pay them for add-ons and extras."
Sounds good but does not work in practice, it's too fine a line between giving them something usefll for free, or bait n switch, and providing "just not quit enough" to prompt them to purchase the addon/extras.
Basically business does not care about free, it does not factor into business ideas, businesses are more than happy and willing to pay for products and services that increase their business worth, and productivity.
Businesses are not in business to save money, to find bargins, or to find the cheapest way of doing something.
They are in business to make money, earn profit, pay wages, employ people, build assets, build security, and so on.
Businesses have assets, that could be skilled employees, equipment, buildings, computers, cars, plains and so on.
The business model most businesses used, is to employ and use these assets to provide products or services to clients who themselves cannot afford to own those particular assets on a permanent basic, so they employ another business, who specialises in that area.
For example it's expensive to run an airline, you have to purchase assets, plains, terminals, hire and train people as so on, it's too expensive and specialised for most individuals to do that, so they "hire" other companies to do that for them, they hire that company because it's cheaper than doing it themselves.
The airline has to purchase plains, maintain them, support them, and so on, the airline charges the customer these costs, and makes a profit by economies of scale.
IF jets were free, jet fuel was free, and staff were willing to work for free, then there would be far less incentive for outsiders to use that company, it would be easier and cheaper to do it themselves.
But the economy does not work that way, if you make something "just good enough" in the first place, people will just use that, if you make it a "bait and switch" system, with a semi-quality product, with the hopes that if you pay you get a bit extra, it wont work.
Companies, have assets, and those assets enable it to operate their business effectively, free is for charities not for business.
And companies like Google are NOT free, they charge for advertising, and who pay for advertising,,,,,, EVERYONE DOES... You, me, everybody (reminds me of a song).
Companies use their products, assets and skills to add value to a product or service to enable other companies or individuals to benifit from that company by using and paying for the service they provide, at a price that individual would NOT be able to do it himself.
If all the companies assets and products are free, it means individuals can NOT use that company and create their own service or product, reducing business and efficiency.
It's the same in reverse, imagine if everyone got a high pay, but no one had to work?
What would that do to the economy ? what would that do to the progress of humans?
Why would anyone want to grow food, or invent faster CPU's, or better cars, or other products or services. ?
Technology, and human progress is based entirely on money, and the value people can add to something.
IF you are not adding value, or wealth the an economy you are doing nothing to improve or sustain human endeviour.
Im happy to pay for something, if I know that money has paid engineers, programmers, workers, governments, businesses execs and so on.
IF that group of people have worked hard to create something I WANT, and I can afford to pay for, I will reward them by purchasing their product, telling them,, "good work, you laboured hard and you created something I was willing to pay for". so here is some of MY hard earned money as you're reward.
In freemium, that mechanism does not exist.
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