Reactions to story from Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

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  The Perils of Free Coffee - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

  http://nischg.tumblr.com/post/36334376
  132 days ago in nischg.com · No authority yet

  The Perils of Free Coffee - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog
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  anticipatory TGIF linkflood

  http://www.1337hax0r.com/?p=722
  137 days ago in 1337hax0r.com · Authority: 18

  Image via Wikipedia Beyond America, you can be free to eat ALL the ice cream you want! Democracy, iTocracy, ochlocracy… The best things in life are always silly Free coffee wakes you up to capitalism, endorphins get you high, but certain cocktails have led to people being naughty down under The military-industrial house of cards is falling down Breakfast of champions They’re already invading your TV and reading your blog, so do you want them reading your email, too? Pick the better cause: Live Aid vs. Live Earth Lacking Earth, there’s always Dungeons and Dragons 4.0 ShareThis
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  Speaker podiums and the tides of the night

  http://fourthcheckraise.blogspot.com/2008/05/speaker-podiums...
  139 days ago in The Fourth Checkraise · Authority: 39

  The Bileblog: "Java Haters, Gtfo" Concurring Opinions: "The Privacy Virus" Dave Johnston: "Nuclear Power Is Unsafe, Creates Massive Deadly Waste, Is Very Scary And Should Be Banned"Dirty Writer: "What 11 Years on the Internet Will Get You"Division of Labour: "Income Effects" Freakonomics Blog: "The Perils of Free Coffee"Freeborn John: "The Unconscionable Cruelty of Polly T" Hertzlinger: "Yes. I'm Voting for McCain"Iowahawk: "Return to Sender" James D. Miller: "Massachusetts Should Tax Harvard"Roissy: "Overheard In DC"Keith Windschuttle: "The Adversary Culture"
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  The Cost of "Free Coffee"

  http://www.creativedestructionblog.com/2008/05/cost-of-free-...
  141 days ago in Creative Destruction · Authority: 3

  Stephen Dubner over at the Freakonomics blog has an interesting post about the value of free coffee. And it made me think about costs. In Etan Bednarsh's example, the iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts was free, but it wasn't free. We should remember, in spite of what groups like the Free Software Foundation would have us believe, that there are costs other than just financial when acquiring items. In Etan's case, the cost for "free iced coffee" was the time he would have spent in line waiting for the coffee. How long? Let's say ten minutes, as an example. I've certainly waited in lines longer than that before, but let's just use that for the sake of this argument. Ten minutes is one-sixth of an hour. How much is an hour of my time worth? When I do consulting work, an hour of my time is worth anywhere from $50 (if I really like you) to $150 (if I think you can afford it). But let's stay at the low end of the scale, and say $50. So ten minutes of my time would then be worth about $8.33. Compared to getting an iced coffee for $3.50 almost immediately, that "free iced coffee" is a pretty expensive cup of joe. Why is it that so many people never think of time as a cost? I know people who will drive around a city and its suburbs looking for the cheapest gas so they can save maybe ten cents a gallon when filling up. They spend an hour of their time (again, worth at least $50, in my case) to save a buck or two filling up. Is there time really worth only a dollar or two an hour? Maybe it is, but not for me. The lesson here is about the value of convenience. We live in a society of convenience, where some items we pay more for simply because they're convenient. This convenience comes in the form of time savings, and since time is money, there is (or at least, can be) a cost savings by paying more for an item. We spend more money, but have more of our time available to us. What we do with that time is, of course, up to us. Most of us seem to use it these days to sit on our couches and watch television (and I'm as guilty of that as the next person). If that's what you're using your free time for, then by all means spend six hours driving around to every furniture store in the city to find the cheapest price on a new couch so you can save a hundred bucks. For me, though, I'd prefer to spend a little more cash to gain some more of my time that I can put to some productive use.
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  The Dark Side of Free

  http://www.markneigh.com/post/35063228
  144 days ago in Vast and grand, monumental · Authority: 3

  The Dark Side of Free “Does the long line incurred by giving out free coffee serve as a reverse incentive, driving Starbucks to do more business on a Dunkin’ Donuts promotional day?” See Stephen Dubner’s response at the Freakonomics blog.
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  Who do I pay for this free coffee?

  http://www.businessingeneral.com/index.php/2008/05/16/who-do...
  144 days ago in Business in General blog · Authority: 28

  On the Freakonomics blog there’s an interesting conversation happening about “The Perils of Free Coffee”. Author Stephen Dubner tells two stories of free coffee offers that had the opposite effect than was probably intended. There are, of course, a lot of different kinds of “free.” Giving away a free razor or a free computer printer in order to lock a customer into buying your razor blades or printer cartridges is one model; giving away free merchandise as a pure marketing play is another. The comments are filled with more stories of people turning away from the “free” offer to go across the street to take advantage of a paid option - all to avoid standing in line. ‘Chelle Parmele Social Media Marketing Manager Palo Alto Software
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  NYTimes.com: Freakonomics: The Perils of Free Coffee

  http://patcanny.blogspot.com/2008/05/nytimescom-freakonomics...
  144 days ago in Pat Canny Online · Authority: 2

  This page was sent to you by: pat.canny@gmail.com Message from sender: Did you get your free iced coffee yesterday? OPINION | May 16, 2008 Freakonomics: The Perils of Free Coffee Stephen J. Dubner As prices go, “free” is an interesting one. Dan Ariely plays with the idea in his book Predictably Irrational, as does Seth Godin — and Chris Andersen has gone so far as to suggest that “$0.00 is the Future of Business.” There are, of course, a lot of different kinds of “free.” Giving away a [...] 1. Fitness for Every Body: O.K., Avatar, Work With Me 2. Building Rage 3. Op-Ed Columnist: Obama Admires Bush 4. California Court Affirms Right to Gay Marriage 5. Collateral Foreclosure Damage for Condo Owners » Go to Complete List Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy

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