Why do people pay for what’s free?
Convenience.
If we learn anything from the 9/11 Commission Report (setting aside the subject matter, those lessons are a given), it is that people want to access information in their preferred manner. This is why MP3s continue to dominate the music download business despite record labels’ insistence on forcing proprietary formats down the consumer throat. This is why, to a large extent, that bound and printed remains the favored format for books. The book model is a comfortable fit for most of us; so many people spend entire days in front of a computer — during leisure reading, staring at the monitor may not be the most comfortable approach. This will change as technology evolves.
The bottom line is that entertainment options should be flexible enough to meet consumer needs — not the other way around.
