I spent a good part of my day Saturday behind a velvet rope, freezing and waiting patiently for the big event. No, I wasn't outside some exclusive New York City club hoping to get in. My big event involved getting my hands on a Grande Nonfat Caramel Macchiato and a merino blend cardigan. That's right, this weekend I braved the elements at the Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets in upstate New York where Banana Republic, Gap and Starbucks had doormen, ropes and hundreds of eager patrons waiting in line to get in. All that was missing were the bracelets, clipboards and bottle service. Crazy? Maybe. But millions like me were willing to take on the lines and aggravation because 1) we believed that we were getting good deals, and 2) we have no choice. After all, you can't simply walk into the Gap and walk out with a sweater gratis. And there lies the difference between retail and the Internet. For fifteen years now we have grown accustomed to the fact that things that we view and use online should be free. Any hint that online content shouldn't be given away causes a massive outcry. The current face of evil for proposing that businesses should actually get paid for producing quality content is Rupert Murdoch. Over the last few months Murdoch has raised the ire of technophiles by intimating that his news sites will soon charge for access, and that he will de-list his content from Google. New Media pundits are aghast -- they say he's old, he doesn't understand the Internet, he's out of touch. Maybe, but he's also a billionaire who is not willing to sit idly by and watch a media empire that he built over a lifetime become unprofitable and irrelevant. You go Rupert. I for one believe that there is a significant difference between reading a blog and an article in the NY Times, between reading a 140 character Tweet and reading a story vetted by a reporter, between going to the movies and scouring YouTube for a video that makes me laugh. Premium content shouldn't be free. It's created by professionals who deserve to get paid for their work. And as anyone who has made this their business can tell you, online advertising alone is not the answer. There is too much inventory and the prices are too low to create a sustainable business. A few years ago at the height of the file sharing craze a mentor told me, "People don't want to steal, they'll be willing to pay a fair price when you give them a way to do it." When iTunes was released I saw that he was 100% right. Over the next few years a sea change is going to occur online. It will become easier to micro-pay for content across the web and the wheat will be separated from the chaff. When that time comes, millions like me will be eager to wait in line.
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