Extracting Value From Free

In his latest manifesto, Kevin Kelly likens the Internet to a copy machine that logs information at every turn, instantly transforming original content into multiple versions of itself made available to anyone that wants to search for it at the low cost of “free.”  He further explains that the Internet’s “super-distribution system” simultaneously forms the basis on which our new global economy is founded by providing for the easy transfer of data and ideas and undermines at the very same time, through its ability to duplicate everything. The very notion of selling the “precious” copy that once existed has disappeared in a virtual world of abundance.  Kelly then asks, “how do we extract any value out of an equation where the bottom line is already at zero?”  (Value in this case referring to the almighty dollar as opposed to meaning which we are to assume is intrinsic in the thing itself.) He sees the solution to this conundrum hinging on being able to identify qualities that themselves can’t be copied and believes we must do this from the perspective of a user.  Kelly refers to these as “generatives” – things that are better than free.

A generative value is a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown, cultivated, nurtured. A generative thing cannot be copied, cloned, faked replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced.  It is generated uniquely, in place, over time.  In the digital arena, generative qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that can be sold.

He elucidates eight of these virtues which are summarized below:

1. Immediacy – When time is a factor and you want something sooner than now.
2. Personalization – A thing customized by you and/or specifically for you is much more worthwhile.
3. Interpretation – Sure you may have a free copy of the latest software release, but do you know how to use it?
4. Authenticity – Can I count on this product working when I need it most?  Think of an umbrella falling to pieces as soon as it gets wet.
5. Accessibility – All your favorite things available “on call” or subscription-based leaving you daily life unencumbered and clutter free.
6. Embodiment – Sometimes we want something to hold in our hand that doesn’t only live on a computer screen.
7. Patronage – Developing relationships with and supporting the people or products you love through the universal language of money.
8. Findability – (This seems less from the viewpoint of a user and more from the aspect of a creator) Standing out in a sea of millions upon millions of any conceivable good or service isn’t always dependent on simply being exceptional, sometimes we need help.

Kelly concludes his discussion by noting that the “value system” of a networked economy doesn’t rely on following the copy – a seemingly infinite supply makes this an impossibility – but rather in discovering where attention resides.  And this will require a new set of skills where understanding, in his words “how abundance breeds a sharing mindset, how generosity is a business model, how vital it has become to cultivate and nurture qualities that can’t be replicated with the click of a mouse” will become a necessity.

[via Change This]