Avian’s Blog

I remember reading somewhere that the English word free when used on the Internet is without meaning. It has become part of the background noise of the language and doesn't carry any information. If something is said to be free, it can mean that it's either free as in freedom, free as in beer, free as in we-will-force-you-to-watch-a-ton-of-ads or free as in give-us-your-credit-card-number-first.

I've just experienced this ambiguity: A certain apartment in Italy was advertised to have wireless LAN for internet hook-up included in the price. Wireless LAN was indeed free of charge, external internet connection not so much at 5€ per hour.

This is one customer that won't be returning there next year.