In this interview, Andy Yen says about gmail et al “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. Then, in nearly the same breath, he boasts that most Proton users don’t pay, they use the basic service for free because that’s all they need.
So my question is: if there’s no such thing as a free lunch (which there isn’t), how come Proton can offer it?
This is a great demonstration of what running a company for endless profit vs running it to provide a good service while covering costs looks like (as is the fediverse, btw).
“No such thing as a free lunch” is as much part of the capitalist indoctrination as “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” and the idea that we live in a meritocracy.
Truth is, just like with actual food, there is more than enough to go around, and when you don’t commodify everything in existence as a way to gain power and control over others, sharing is pretty easily done, natural even.
Most software is built on free samples. Games, for example, very often have free demos…still…after decades. Free demos sold me on many games over the years. And one day, I’ll pay for Proton too.
Proton has paid tiers covering their actual costs, and they aren’t out to kneel at the altar of capitalism, driving shareholder value, etc. Google literally sells you as their product, so Gmail is free that way.
If you want an online service set to be big enough to be in common awareness, you need users.
Free users are the cheapest advertisements possible. You already have to have the infrastructure built to have the service in the first place, and people will jump at “free”. It’s already proven that you can attract users and convert enough of them to paying customers by offering a lesser service for free to lead to profitability. Now, the model proton uses is way less profitable than Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, or any of the other ad servers social network/email services, but that’s a secondary issue, and not a negative one.
My free proton account using ass is directly responsible for making 3 paying users aware it existed in the first place. And there’s a few more where people tried the service after I gave a good word when they asked about it after hearing of it in other ways. Every email I send to someone via that account is a form of advertising because non-gmail accounts that are also not isp accounts draw attention sometimes.
Now, at this point they could do fine without a free tier. If they phased it out correctly, they could probably do it without pissing enough paying people off to the extent of being an issue. But the fact that they haven’t is another point in their favor.
You guys, the paying customers? Thank you. Y’all are making sure my old, crippled ass has a good alternative to gmail without an extra expense that would be hard to afford.
We free tier users are not really free, we are still part of the product, just in a non invasive, non abusive way.
Because the paying users subsidize the free product, they pay the free lunch. Meanwhile google, like most big platforms, is (almost, see comment) entirely without payment, instead subsidized by ads (and of course the sold data); with gmail you’re not paying with money, but with your attention (and your data).
Do I really need the paid tier? Not necessarily. Proton provides me with a viable privacy-first service. Like they say; vote with your wallet.
I’ve successfully de-googled myself after ~20 years. It feels good to be free of a corporation doing its best to spy on every aspect my life. If my subscription subsidizes the OP’s free lunch I say cheers mate 🍻, have some free privacy on me.
I wish I could totally buy it, but I could never justify the price relative to current expenses especially now that drive has 5 gigs
Anyways thanks for letting me have privacy too :D
Edit: but proton pass has been in my radar since I got into proton and privacy a couple months ago and that reduction in price is making it look mighty fine tho
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !protonprivacy@lemmy.world
Empowering you to choose a better internet where privacy is the default. Protect yourself online with
Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive. Proton Pass and SimpleLogin.
Proton Mail is the world’s largest secure email provider. Swiss, end-to-end encrypted, private, and free.
Proton VPN is the world’s only open-source, publicly audited, unlimited and free VPN. Swiss-based, no-ads, and no-logs.
Proton Calendar is the world’s first end-to-end encrypted calendar that allows you to keep your life private.
Proton Drive is a free end-to-end encrypted cloud storage that allows you to securely backup and share your files. It’s open source, publicly audited, and Swiss-based.
Proton Pass Proton Pass is a free and open-source password manager which brings a higher level of security with rigorous end-to-end encryption of all data (including usernames, URLs, notes, and more) and email alias support.
SimpleLogin lets you send and receive emails anonymously via easily-generated unique email aliases.
This is a great demonstration of what running a company for endless profit vs running it to provide a good service while covering costs looks like (as is the fediverse, btw).
“No such thing as a free lunch” is as much part of the capitalist indoctrination as “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” and the idea that we live in a meritocracy.
Truth is, just like with actual food, there is more than enough to go around, and when you don’t commodify everything in existence as a way to gain power and control over others, sharing is pretty easily done, natural even.
Most software is built on free samples. Games, for example, very often have free demos…still…after decades. Free demos sold me on many games over the years. And one day, I’ll pay for Proton too.
Proton has paid tiers covering their actual costs, and they aren’t out to kneel at the altar of capitalism, driving shareholder value, etc. Google literally sells you as their product, so Gmail is free that way.
Limited functions on free tier, and like me, after a year, I joined the paid tier
If you want an online service set to be big enough to be in common awareness, you need users.
Free users are the cheapest advertisements possible. You already have to have the infrastructure built to have the service in the first place, and people will jump at “free”. It’s already proven that you can attract users and convert enough of them to paying customers by offering a lesser service for free to lead to profitability. Now, the model proton uses is way less profitable than Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, or any of the other
ad serverssocial network/email services, but that’s a secondary issue, and not a negative one.My free proton account using ass is directly responsible for making 3 paying users aware it existed in the first place. And there’s a few more where people tried the service after I gave a good word when they asked about it after hearing of it in other ways. Every email I send to someone via that account is a form of advertising because non-gmail accounts that are also not isp accounts draw attention sometimes.
Now, at this point they could do fine without a free tier. If they phased it out correctly, they could probably do it without pissing enough paying people off to the extent of being an issue. But the fact that they haven’t is another point in their favor.
You guys, the paying customers? Thank you. Y’all are making sure my old, crippled ass has a good alternative to gmail without an extra expense that would be hard to afford.
We free tier users are not really free, we are still part of the product, just in a non invasive, non abusive way.
Because the paying users subsidize the free product, they pay the free lunch. Meanwhile google, like most big platforms, is (almost, see comment) entirely without payment, instead subsidized by ads (and of course the sold data); with gmail you’re not paying with money, but with your attention (and your data).
Well, not entirely, Google does have a paid tier but I see your point (that’s not their primary source of revenue)
Do I really need the paid tier? Not necessarily. Proton provides me with a viable privacy-first service. Like they say; vote with your wallet.
I’ve successfully de-googled myself after ~20 years. It feels good to be free of a corporation doing its best to spy on every aspect my life. If my subscription subsidizes the OP’s free lunch I say cheers mate 🍻, have some free privacy on me.
I’m also a free tier user so thanks!
I wish I could totally buy it, but I could never justify the price relative to current expenses especially now that drive has 5 gigs
Anyways thanks for letting me have privacy too :D
Edit: but proton pass has been in my radar since I got into proton and privacy a couple months ago and that reduction in price is making it look mighty fine tho
cheers fellas
deleted by creator
subsidized freemium is a standard practice. it cuts into their profits maybe slightly, but turnover into paying customers is worth it.
They power their servers with starving hamsters.