The article really jumps around industries and it largely ignores why free can be better than paid for certain segments of a market, or what type of economics d

The article really jumps around industries and it largely ignores why free can be better than paid for certain segments of a market, or what type of economics drive a free model. I don't think any airlines were seriously considering offering free flights based on ad revenues, nor are there any plans to offer a paid version of the Linux kernel source. Free makes a lot of sense when the product you are delivering is eyeballs, the world is transitioning towards an abundance of natural resources, and towards a scarcity of attention. There are certainly exceptions to the trend but the macro trends are very clear, this is why even with insane oil prices Apple is a more valuable company than Exxon. Exxon provides resources, Apple provides a conduit for attention. Even taking peak oil into account, there is only a certain price to which oil can go and after which we make a huge investment in another energy source. As we switched from whale oil to crude oil, we destroyed our whaling fleets and started building oil derricks.