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Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2009 > March > 17 > Entry
Keynote: Chris Anderson interviewed by Guy Kawasaki
Oh, Hugh!
The Lacy teasing continued as venture capitalist and former Apple Fellow Guy Kawasaki and Wired editor Chris Anderson started their punchy, amusing keynote conversation Tuesday in Ballroom A. Kawasaki early on said, “I”m not wearing my skirt.”
He followed that one by interrupting Anderson during a rambling anser: “I was hoping for an answer someday. Clearly, I’m not Sarah.”
Kawasaki played life-of-the-party, taking questions from Twitter posters following the interview and asking irreverent questions, including whether Anderson would give a PDF version of his book out for free to all those gathered in the room.
Anderson, a fast-talker with a mind that races to match, was unflappable and told an invested audience about some of the ways “Free” could change everything. The two talked about Facebook and Twitter — the constant questioning about how the two companies will monetize their massive user base.
Kawasaki asked if the important question is what percentage of people would pay for what was previously a free service. Anderson told him that it’s important not to raise the bar too high for growing the number of people who use a service and not to cripple the free version of a product that also exists in premium form.
But what should the price be? Nobody knows. “If you’re a free product, you really haven’t tested the market price,” Anderson said.
Kawasaki asked about Anderson’s own book — how it would be sold and what Anderson would do differently if he was starting Wired today (it started in 1993). “You’re a hypocrite if there’s not something free,” Kawasaki teased.
“Yes, I’ve thought about that,” Anderson deadpanned, to big laughs. He acknowledged that he and his publisher are working on some innovative ways to distribute the book, due out July 6.
Anderson stressed the importance of books and paper — he said there’s still an audience that feels that’s hardcover is still the preferable form for books. But companies are tempted by new ways to attract larger audience, given that “Free is the best way to maximize your reach,” Anderson said.
And contrary to what most believe, Anderson thinks the music industry is doing fine, except for publishing. He said there’s more music than ever and more methods of distribution to put it out.
As for piracy, Anderson said that in China, you can’t fight it, but you can accept it and make money instead from personal appearances, concerts, commercial gigs and other methods.
“Ironically, the Chinese are going to teach us capitalism,” Kawasaki added.
“Free wants to be the natural price,” Anderson concluded. “If you don’t do it, someone will take advantage of those falling costs and do it to you.”
Anderson seemed fascinated not only by the concept of “Freemium” (inverting the traditional giveaway method to give away 95 to 99 percent of online content, then sell only the premium 1 to 5 percent), and by the way video game publishers are innovating in online multiplayer games and premium downloadable content.
In the end, Kawasaki got Anderson to agree to give away digital copies of his book to those who follow him on Twitter. And the business model rocking didn’t stop there: when audience members kept plugging their companies in the Q&A, Kawasaki demanded that one of them donate $20 to a charity. It almost turned into an auction.
It was a feisty way to end the major programming of the conference, and very entertaining.
Here’s an idea: we get Bruce Sterling’s view of the future every year. Can we have a yearly slot for Guy Kawasaki?
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