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Kevin Kelly weighs in on Free

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July 22, 2009

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The brilliant Kevin Kelly, author of Out of Control: The New Biolgy of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World and founder of Cool Tools, offered his take on Chris Anderson's Free: The Future of a Radical Price earlier this week. Somewhat coincidentally, Kevin Kelly is the author of a recent and popular ChangeThis manifesto entitled Better Than Free. And, though that title might suggest a momentous throwing down with Chris Anderson, Gladwell style, maybe even resorting to fisticuffs, it it no such thing.

The brilliant Kevin Kelly, author of Out of Control: The New Biolgy of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World and founder of Cool Tools, offered his take on Chris Anderson's Free: The Future of a Radical Price earlier this week. Somewhat coincidentally, Kevin Kelly is the author of a recent and popular ChangeThis manifesto entitled Better Than Free. And, though that title might suggest a momentous throwing down with Chris Anderson, Gladwell style, maybe even resorting to fisticuffs, it it no such thing. Put simply, he's a fan of Anderson's and the book, writing:
Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired, offers the best utilitarian knowledge about the economics of the free I've seen yet. I believe this book will clear up many misunderstandings about this "radical price" and assist creators (that's us these days) in pricing our offerings in a world of "freeconomics."
To read more of his thoughts on the topic, and an excerpt from the book, head on over to Cool Tools. The conversation in the comments of the post is rather vigorous, and with drastically opposing viewpoints. Disagreement seems to be the natural state surrounding the book, with Malcolm Gladwell penning a New Yorker piece earlier this month that Seth Godin disagreed with (as, unsurprisingly, did Chris Anderson himself). When it comes to this idea and this book, great minds certainly don't think alike. Here are a few opinions:

Alan Webber | Tim Sanders | Mark Cuban | Chris Brogan | Anil Dash

Anderson added to the conversation when he sat down with Charlie Rose last night.

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