Friction is good

Seth posted recently about what would happen if Craigslist charged $1. He talks about the friction of cost and how it is a good thing.

I could not agree more. In the age of Free, I love things that make me pay. Those that make such things might not like both my reasons, though

1. I value things more when I pay for them. If you offer me a free download of an audiobook, I will probably take it. If I pay for it, I will take it AND listen to it. For example, I am learning Dutch right now, not through the two courses I have obtained for free (both well-known and proven methods), but through the Rosetta Stone software I paid for. So please, charge me so that I value what you offer.
   
2. Adding a price tag to something often removes it from my list of choices. This makes my life far more managable. Which productivity software will I use? Which word processor? Which operating system? If I simply eliminate the ones that cost me money, I am normally left with a very managable list of items that will work just fine. So please, charge me so that I can ignore you.

The funny thing is that these two reasons are nearly mutually exclusive. For businesses trying to sell me something, it is a bit of a quandry. Which do you choose? That is a hard question and one reason I stick to easy stuff like calculus in my day job. Good luck! :)