What is it About Free?

Perhaps it's that I'm getting older or maybe it's that the economy is in the crapper and affecting a lot of people and businesses. Whatever it is, this trend of people clamoring for freebies is starting to wear on me. Actually, let me be more specific: this trend of business professionals clamoring for freebies is really starting to wear on me.

I get the appeal of free. It's a nice price that I and many, many others don't mind every now and then. But more often than not, it comes with a hidden cost. Sometimes that cost is lack of real support (such as no official tech support for that cool blogging software you just installed on your server); sometimes it's that it's limited in features or what it can do; sometimes it's a limited lifespan. Whatever it is, this is where the adage, you get what you pay for, really kicks in. But that's not even my point.

What really boggles my mind is business owners who expect as much as possible for free or practically free while they continue to charge their regular prices, rates, whatever. It really gets me when the product or service their purchasing can and probably will help their business. Yes, times are tough but that excuse only goes so far, especially for business owners.

Someone explain it to me because I don't get it.