People have come to see the Internet as the great communal equalizer. You can talk to your friends, you can post anything you want on some webspace somewhere, you can watch free videos and get free music, and you can even interact with others across the globe. However, development isn’t free, nor is the technology that’s already developed.
Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind the Facebook machine, desperately wants to eventually make a lucrative amount of cash on his concept. Three years after Google bought YouTube for almost $2 billion, YouTube still hasn’t turned a profit. The same goes for Twitter. Solutions? More ads? Paid services? Unfortunately, nothing really exists as an option for these sites that won’t alienate the users like us at our computer screens.
This is the issue with not just YouTube and social networking sites, but all sites that offer media on the Internet. Why pay for television service if every single episode of your favorite show is streamed online for free? Why pay for music when you know you can get it easily from alternate sources like the infamous site The Pirate Bay?
In short, there is a trend to be seen here. Everything online is only getting cheaper and freer and more innovative, and the executives are losing money. Who will be surprised when YouTube or Skype start charging $5 a month?
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