Strategy - What's the next Free Service? from Blaine Wilkerson: MarketingProfs Question 2329

Question

Topic: Strategy

What's The Next Free Service?

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/16/2004 at 7:49 PM ET 2500 Points

I have been thinking about something for a few weeks now.

We have seen free email, free search engines, free websites, free hosting, free postcards/greeting cards, free music, free movies (illegal), and soon to come; free video email.

Of course there is a ton of free stuff online, but very few that are watershed events (i.e. Hotmail, Napster, Yahoo, Google). Most are free pop-up blockers, file converters, IM programs, browsers, trial software etc.

So what is the next useful service to be offered for free? What would you like to have free access to? What common, daily function needs to be made available or improved (as far as accessibility on a free basis)? These are all variations of the same question...I just want to hit it from a few different angles so you understand what I am asking.

Thank you for your time!

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RESPONSES

Posted by SRyan ;] on 7/16/2004 at 7:58 PM Accepted

Free access to wireless broadband connection to the Internet!

People riding mass transit, sipping coffee at Starbucks, waiting in an airport should be able to connect their device of choice to email and the Web. Withoug a major credit card.

Is that what you're looking for, Jett?
Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 7/16/2004 at 8:01 PM Accepted

Hi Jett,

First thoughts are:

Free live web cams, example Surfline.com, travel
Free live news broadcasts worldwide
Free live sports broadcasts, including minor league games

I’ll come back to this and expand.

- Steve
Posted by Deremiah *CPE on 7/16/2004 at 8:04 PM Accepted

Jett,

Next Free Service

I think the next free breakthrough service is going to be online motivational speaking presentations for Free. Presentations that are geared at specific needs of clients who are being challenged in the areas the presentations hit on.

I would like to have free access...
to what's going to happen in "The Future".

Free email needs to be improved along with some Search engines Free searches. Free news needs to be enhanced by allowing unpaid writers to particiapte in the media. Allowing them to write columns and form a broader range of what people thinks is news. Thanks for your questions. Is there anything I can do for you Jett?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE
Posted by telemoxie on 7/16/2004 at 10:07 PM Accepted

Personalized radio at the office - transmitted over the internet with targeted ads using Content Management technology - you can go to a web site and select your favorite type of music, the type of news you are interested in, reminders (your wife's birthday, your anniversary) and your professional interests, and your computer will play radio program customized just for you (which includes occasional ads, which pay for the service).

Songs and messages will be downloaded to your PC and cached there, to minimize network bottlenecks. Paid or sponsored subscribers will have a wider choice of options.
Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 7/16/2004 at 10:23 PM Accepted

I concur on fast internet access is what I'd want to see. Preferably wireless.

Actually, I know of a few places where I can already get this (local cafes and some libraries).

Interesting, some of what you listed as examples of free stuff has become not so free recently. Greeting cards and music are two out of your list. Add to this is content at many websites (like magazines), which used to be free but now many charge for.
Posted by Deremiah *CPE on 7/16/2004 at 10:38 PM Member

Hey Jett,

Is this your homework for a class? :-) LOL

Remember this is a free forum and someone has already posted the answer to your question at this link (click Here)https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=2328#15577

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE
Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/16/2004 at 11:27 PM Author

I like the radio idea. Interesting. Hmmmmmmm.....

So far, the majority want free, wireless, high-speed internet access. OK.

Great ideas! Keep em coming.

Is there anything else brewing that doesn't involve a 5 Billion dollar satellite?

Oh, and thanks for elaborating on the word "free", virago. I get it.

Let me just say I understand the philosophies of "free", trade-off, comprimise, the necessity for utility, blah, blah, blah. What I am looking for is concepts and ideas. So far so good. In spite of my satellite comment, don't let the cost of deployment be a barrier.
Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/16/2004 at 11:30 PM Author

Now we're talkin....

Good stuff Jim!
Posted by Pepper Blue on 7/16/2004 at 11:59 PM Accepted

Jett,

Great question.
Free WIFI everywhere, like cellphone access only more reliable. You don't need satellites, its already being done in many cities, big and small. Spokane, Washington just turned on a WIFI hotspot in their entire downtown area. Why not everywhere? I hate going into a coffeshop/bar/restaurant and having to pay for WIFI access, and EVERY airport should have it.
Better yet, free satellite Internet access. Ever been camping at 7000 feet or in the middle of two mountains wishing you had Internet access? Nope, gotta drive 30 miles into town and find a connection or Internet cafe
Why stop there, free satellite cellphone access, same reason as above.
Free VOIP. Wouldn't that be cool?
I wish NewsGator was free. Its only $30, but there needs to be a free RSS feed/newsreader program that integrates with Outlook and OE. It would sure allow a much quicker adoption of RSS.

Now we have 2 things to mull over this weekend, Kevin's post and yours!

PB

Posted by SRyan ;] on 7/17/2004 at 7:47 AM Accepted

More things that I wish were free:

Cable television
Electricity (air conditioning!!)
Gasoline
Public transportation
Air travel
Housekeepers ;]

It certainly is an interesting mindbender to imagine how (and WHY) you could actually make some of those things free or even low-cost. Or... turning it around... wondering why we PAY for something like cable TV that's crammed with advertising.

Shelley

Posted on 7/17/2004 at 11:18 AM Accepted

Free International Long distance . . . with video while we're at it.

Free real-time check ups/diagnostics when you buy hardware & sensors that connect to your PC, for asthmatics, heart patients, senior citizens at home alone, etc. Probably not possible because of the ensuing malpractice suits, but my grandmother would love it since she can't get to the doctor on her own anymore.

Sometimes I'd like to connect my car to my computer to see if it's allright or if it needs anything that I can't possibly know that it needs (since I'm such a girl).

Free (really great) animated greeting cards (How come only the ugly ones are free?)

ciao. . .

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/17/2004 at 12:33 PM Author

Regarding WiFi, someone has already jumped on the "WiFi certificate", which means you have to pay them a license to become WiFi compatable. There may be a way around this, but as long as a license is involved, forget "free WiFi" on a large scale. VoIP is interesting, I have digital telephone services and digital cable, so my cable internet, TV and telephone travel through the cable lines already. I wonder if they offer an interface? I doubt it since they charge me 3 separate fees for each service. But imagine the profit potential if a cable company included VOIP with high-speed or vice-versa? How many new subscribers would you get? Free Cable makes sense because of all the advertising. I suspect they have a complex profit diversity program that has created a web they cannot escape (i.e. High-speed fees help pay for digital cable bandwidth, etc.).

I know of an intelligent browser with an AI based search function built in. It learns about your the more you use it. For example, if I type in "blue pencils", instead of 56,789 results, I am taken directly to the "blue pencile section" of Office Depot's website (because it knows I like that site). It skips over the meta tag crap and spiders sites for the specific info. Most impressive - it learns to become a virual "you". The more you use it, the easier it becomes to navigate since it knows what you like.

No, it is not spyware, etc...just trust me that it is a true, artificially intelligent program that is run by an internal A.I "brain". It has been designed by some of the top AI programmers and researchers over a course of a decade or so.

Does this sound like something you may like to have?

(oh yeah, it can have an avatar that talks to you, reads texts to you, etc..the avatar can be anyone you want, and it has TTS and VR capablities)

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/17/2004 at 1:11 PM Author

Just messing with HTML...

....wondering if forum templates are a good idea. Might make it too busy...I don't know.

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/17/2004 at 2:15 PM Author

lalith213 - Have you ever heard of or used Paypal.com?

Check it out.

Posted by SRyan ;] on 7/17/2004 at 3:33 PM Member

I love PayPal! But it's not free.

I wonder if I could use my account to collect two cents for KHE comments instead of points? ;]

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/17/2004 at 3:50 PM Author

Paypal is free for personal use up to a certain amount.

Posted by jcmedinave on 7/18/2004 at 12:12 PM Accepted

Hi Jett,

I will be glad to watch and be present by Internet in living shows and events, like: music concerts, training conferences, sports, and all kind of performances.

It will be useful to access the different books in different languages. To write a forum message in Spanish and send it automatically in English.

More free email applications, to personalize the massive messages.

Customer databases, to focus only in people who want my product or services. When a will ask a question, example "who are interesting in buy me a course in x Topic", then I will receive the prospect information to contact them. Or if I offer a product, the world network give me the information of people who are interested in it.

Only some thoughts,

Bye,

Juan Carlos

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/19/2004 at 12:53 PM Author

jaccog - Interesting suggestion (porn). It is one of the largest revenue producers on the Net. I wonder how you would pay the "actors"? from advertising dollars? Hmmmmm.

OK, I have heard a lot of suggestions...now let's try to think of stuff that can be provided via the web.

Thank You!!

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/19/2004 at 5:38 PM Author

Kwinters- Are you thinking of being able to have a free unique domain name as well (instead of a subdomain like the kind you get from your ISP)?

Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 7/19/2004 at 7:47 PM Accepted

Blaine,

Maybe free monitoring as a category, specifically human monitoring. In desirable applications like monitoring medical patients on government health care programs like Medicare. Of course this subject brings up some scary undesirable applications such as monitoring the green card workforce or homeless or ???

Your question got me thinking about a related question – how could this forum be effective in fostering idea generation in a way that the contributors would be protected from idea thief. I’ll have to give this one some more thought.

Thanks for this question,

- Steve

Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 7/19/2004 at 9:40 PM Member

Thanks Cal, I like the pet application idea, sort of a LoJack for run away dogs.

Some of this is machine-to-machine (M2M) wi-fi stuff and it’s growing fast in industrial automation circles.

Can’t think of anymore right now. I’ll think on it tonight.

- Steve

Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 7/20/2004 at 12:58 PM Author

Kevin,

It's very possible and you don't have to be a big boy. Great Idea!

Clentflow- I love the golf course idea! Very thought provoking. Hmmmmmmmm...

Posted by telemoxie on 7/20/2004 at 11:24 PM Member

If you liked my radio idea...

Let's imagine for a moment that someone didn't want to give away their best idea for free, that they had a great idea for an online service, something as useful as mapquest or switchboard, that would be "obvious after the fact"...

what would one do with such an idea?

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