Why Cell Phone Users Pay for Free Stuff

As the old saying goes, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”

That’s a question you might ask when considering the fact that cell phone users are overwhelmingly paying phone companies a nickel here and a dime there for applications and content that they could get for free if they logged on to the Internet via their home computer.

Why is this happening? A New York Times article says preconceptions of the Internet and mobile phones may be the biggest reason behind it.

Phone companies have been charging extra for content for years, whether it’s calling 411 for information or getting a recording of your local weather forecast. We would never dream of paying a quarter for the same thing from our home desktop. We’re used to the Internet being “free.” So while much of the information is the same, we seem to accept spending some of our spare change on our next phone bill that we would reject on our Internet bill.

Another reason? There’s a certain gratification cell phone users get from downloading things when they’re on the move. If you’re on your PC, buying something is usually a little more cumbersome because you have to enter your credit card info for each purchase.

Might be something to think about in these times when many budgets are tight.