Paying for BusinessWeek…one year later

This quote by Tim O’Reilly is making the rounds on Twitter this morning:

…quot;If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product….quot;

It makes sense to me, and it adds some logic to at least one aspect of the current debate over online privacy: If you get something for free, you’re most likely paying with your data.

That said, I had this idea as I got up this morning that I’d do something I hadn’t done much since I left BusinessWeek a year ago: I’d read the magazine. I’ve ready individual stories over the months, and once I picked up the entire magazine at the dentist’s office. But for the most part, I’m moved on (as have most of my old colleagues).

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Remember When…Google was the Anti-Microsoft

MasterCard Applies Big Data to Help Retailers Achieve Better Results

How Coca-Cola Takes a Refreshing Approach to Big Data

The Next Big Idea: The Idea Exchange

So with Tim O’Reilly’s words fresh on my mind, I tried to pay $4.99 and download the digital version on Zinio. I clicked the Paypal option and then was faced with a whole menu of personal data to fill in. My address, email address, etc. If I was willing to pay, why should I give them this information? (For me, frankly, it wasn’t a question of parting with the data, but more the headache of pecking it in on my iPad.) So I went to Amazon Kindle store, pushed a button to download the current issue for $1.69–and am still waiting for it to show up…. (Amazon, by the way, already knows me inside out, while giving me nothing for free. Maybe I should care, but I don’t.)