21st Century Drug Dealers

"Drug dealers are astute businesspeople.  They know their product is so good they're willing to give a little away for free upfront.  They know you'll be back for more --with money."

                                                        --Jason Fried/David Heinemeier Hansson, founders of 37Signals and authors of the book, Rework


The best things in life should be free.  At least, that's what smart companies like Google believe.  Interesting concept in an era where "free" television no longer exists.  Yet as technology continues to level the playing field at warp speed, Google is doing what most companies staunchly oppose:  giving away the store.  Already firmly entrenched as the premier search engine and dominant online advertiser, the company is handing over yet another valuable tool to entice an already captive audience that in all likelihood will spend even more time and eventually its money. 

Case in point:  Google Docs, as defined by Wikipedia is a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, form and data storage service that serves as a collaborative tool for editing amongst users and non-users in real time.  The majority of these document sharing services require user fees but Google Docs is free.  As a consequence, the company's popularity among business users is growing rapidly.

Admittedly, I wasn't at all familiar with the concept but a few weeks ago, a New Zealand architect whose family home I greatly admired in Dwell Magazine graciously responded to my email suggesting I send him information via Google Docs regarding a very similar-sized residential Lake Michigan lot we own so that he could sketch some designs (20 or so) for me:  for free!

My interest really piqued last week after a brief tutorial in my digital media class and the value became more readily apparent.  In effect, this technology allows my wife and I to partner with a critically acclaimed architect from across the pond to help design our own dream home in real time.  How cool is that?  To a novice, non-techie like me, this is a godsend. 

I suspect the technology will have a rippling affect, particularly the collaborative impact on businesses seeking to utilize such ubiquitous tools in the most cost effective way imaginable.  Suddenly, geography becomes less of a barrier.  Time, energy and talent is better optimized to positively affect the bottom line.  And creating that elusive work/life balance everyone craves gets closer to reality.     
   
Oh yeah, this could be addictive.