FREE.....

In today's society there is this large demand for resources and entertainment that is relatively cheap, and even better...for FREE. The word "FREE" is a key word used by many marketing companies to lure in business or popularity of their company. We are a society who feeds on what we can get our hands on with no cost to ourselves. Whether or not we need the item, when its free, you just can't get enough.

I remember as a child asking my dad to buy me some toy that all the other kids at school had and my dad's response was sure, but that I would have to do chores around the house first to earn the money. Frustrated with his response, I would say something to the effect of "why can't you just buy it for me or why can't the company just give me one, don't they have enough money?" and he replied, "sweetheart, nothing in life is free". His whole reasoning on the matter was that somewhere down the line, someone had to pay for it. Even if I essentially got my toy for free, my dad still had to pay for it.

In terms of today's society, the same is true. Even though business such as Cingular or Amazon.com offer incentives or promotional gifts, the "with purchase of" statement is never far to be found. While companies offer free gifts, the reasoning behind it is so that somewhere down the line giving a little in the beginning will result in them getting a lot in the end.

Therefore, the issue of whether or not access to everything should be free including media, is somewhat of a complicated matter. While its good and somewhat healthy for businesses to provide consumers with free resources and entertainment, I do not believe that everything should be provided for free.

I've driven down a residential street once and had seen a "FOR FREE" sign posted on an outdoor bbq grill. The grill had been abandoned by its owner, not because it didn't work, but most likely because it wasn't "good enough"...it was no longer useful or high in quality. Individuals are rarely willing to part with things of value or substantially high quality. Rarely do you see very many car dealers handing out Mercedes Benz vehicles for free. Free things are offered because they are of little worth. If everything is provided for free, the demand for quality in products will progressively decline since the return is substantially less.

Today one of the main issues with the record companies is that people today are less loyal to their music industries. More individuals do not buy cd's because today, only one or two songs on the 15 song cd are good. People indulge in the fact that things are free because in the long run, the free things do not hold a substantial worth to them. The things that are free typically do not amount to quality or physical value. However if something proves to be valuable enough then people would spend the money to own it.