Of the many one-liners that have shaped my thinking about work ethic, somewhere at the top is the old adage, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." The Internet, however, has seemed to provide exactly that. The term "cloud computing" is becoming part of our national vocabulary. The tools we need are located not on our computers, but in that great mystical place that we call the Internet.
Search the entire Internet with Google for free, save my pictures online for free, host my bookmarks online for free...the list goes on and on. Ironically, the blog you are reading right is another one of those free tools located in the cloud.
Once the "nice" service becomes a "can't live without it" tool, how will I handle the day when "free" is replaced by dollar signs? These thoughts have been in the back of my mind for some time, but moved front-and-center with Jott's recent move from free to subscription. I am not alone. I invite you to read Tim Tyson's thoughts on this particular subject.
Maybe I have nothing to fear and advertising dollars will keep the "free cloud" afloat. Certainly, I am going to take advantage of convenience that the "cloud" offers. At the same time, I am going to have a plan in place in case the free lunch becomes a la carte.
In the next post, I will share a second concern. More importantly, I will share my thoughts on how to cope with the possibility.
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