AOL, Yahoo and E-mail Freakonomics
According to the New York Times and other sources, AOL and Yahoo are set to impose a small (1/4-cent to 1-cent) fee on bulk mailings, to speed those messages into registered users' Inboxes and (so the companies say) cut down on spam. Individuals will be exempt, but companies will have to pay.
The idea that the market could solve spam is admirable, although other considerations could likely make it falter. And many believe it's just an attempt to garner new, badly needed revenues.
On the business side, it imposes too great a cost on small businesses, for which every penny counts. For big business, it means they'll cut down on messages that don't generate revenue - thank-you or welcome emails, confirmations, or other customer-service messages - and only send messages that bolster the bottom line. Customers will get more spam from companies they do business with, less information about important service or upgrade issues, and ultimately pay more.
Why? Because the costs imposed by Yahoo and AOL will be pushed back onto the consumer receiving the emails - who is already paying his or her ISP for connectivity. So customers will not only have to pay for the pipe, they'll have to pay more for the content coming through that pipe, in the form of higher prices.
On the competitive side, though, there will always be competitors out there who will offer free email. We can see the wheels turning now in the mind of an engineer somewhere, on how easy it will be to offer a truly free, open-source email service. If open-sourcenauts can offer software, offering open-source services won't be far beyond. And as Netscape found out to their dismay, how can you compete with free?
Letting friends and family know of a new phone number is time-consuming and cumbersome. Letting them know you're switching from AOL and Yahoo to a truly free email system - open-source or (yes) Google - is as simple as clicking "Send."
The idea that the market could solve spam is admirable, although other considerations could likely make it falter. And many believe it's just an attempt to garner new, badly needed revenues.
On the business side, it imposes too great a cost on small businesses, for which every penny counts. For big business, it means they'll cut down on messages that don't generate revenue - thank-you or welcome emails, confirmations, or other customer-service messages - and only send messages that bolster the bottom line. Customers will get more spam from companies they do business with, less information about important service or upgrade issues, and ultimately pay more.
Why? Because the costs imposed by Yahoo and AOL will be pushed back onto the consumer receiving the emails - who is already paying his or her ISP for connectivity. So customers will not only have to pay for the pipe, they'll have to pay more for the content coming through that pipe, in the form of higher prices.
On the competitive side, though, there will always be competitors out there who will offer free email. We can see the wheels turning now in the mind of an engineer somewhere, on how easy it will be to offer a truly free, open-source email service. If open-sourcenauts can offer software, offering open-source services won't be far beyond. And as Netscape found out to their dismay, how can you compete with free?
Letting friends and family know of a new phone number is time-consuming and cumbersome. Letting them know you're switching from AOL and Yahoo to a truly free email system - open-source or (yes) Google - is as simple as clicking "Send."
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