Nel dibattito sull’informazione a pagamento o gratuita, bella segnalazione di Robin su FF: un’analisi Dow Jones (qui il primo capitolo, gratuito) sul tema della gratuita’ dell’informazione.

Tra giornali che chiudono, provider che assumono giornalisti licenziati e ‘squali’ che annunciano di volere un mondo di informazioni su Web a pagamento, la carne al fuoco e’ notevole.

In less than a generation, the Internet has unlocked a treasure trove of information that is now widespread, easy to access, rapidly distributed and – most significantly – free. While free information is a welcome resource, it also represents a challenge for enterprises that depend on trustworthy, actionable information to make critical decisions, surface risk or identify revenue opportunities. “No price tag” is not the same as “no cost”.

The allure of free is simple: have as much as you want. But an unlimited amount of free information misleads us into thinking that there is no cost at all. In reality the opposite is true. In today’s volatile marketplace where top-of-mind issues include uncovering threats to your business, being the first among your competition to uncover revenue opportunities and reduce costs relying solely on free information can prove exceptionally costly to any knowledge-driven enterprise.