Information: Expensive

Some fierce words from Nicholas Carr at Rough Type about the high price of information today.

He argues that while we think there's all this awesomely free info floating around in the air, just waiting to be seized with the merry little fingers of our wireless-internet-capable devices, in fact--

Sorry, sucker. The joke's on you.

Do the math. Sit down right now, and add up what you pay every month for:

-Internet service

-Cable TV service

-Cellular telephone service (voice, data, messaging)

-Landline telephone service

-Satellite radio

-Netflix

-Wi-Fi hotspots

-TiVO

-Other information services

When you think of it like that, yes, I suppose it is a little pricey. I probably pay $120 a month for all those things together.

But...but...we need that stuff! We can't even function without it! (Not literally true. We could function, things would just be a lot different. And somewhat less fun, although it would leave more time for board games.)

I like the idea here that there's more to pay for between us and the content with this new model. In the old days, you go buy your newspaper, or your book, or what-have-you, and then you have your information right there. You don't need the device to read it on, or the maintenance subscription fees to ensure continued access, or the wired or wireless internet to deliver it.

Extra steps means extra costs. (Of course, in the old days you had to have transportation to somewhere you could buy your newspaper, or you paid someone to deliver it, and you always have some cost involved with making light if you want to read it after dark. Nothing is straightforward.)

This further point from the post also struck me:

We begrudge the folks who actually create the stuff we enjoy reading, listening to, and watching a few pennies for their labor, and yet at the very same time we casually throw hundreds of hard-earned bucks at the saps who run the stupid networks through which the stuff is delivered.

Now I feel bad for not buying information and entertainment directly from more people.

And tying handily back into that idea is this post from Samhita on Feministing, asking Would You Pay for the New York Times?

It addresses the rumor that the NYT may be planning to charge for access to their site, and wonders whether it's better for a blogger, say, to continue linking to their stories (to support the Times' reporting), or try to find those stories covered elsewhere in recognition that not all of one's readers can afford (even among those who are willing) to pay for access.

Information not free after all. And another dream crumbles.

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