YACK on: Free

Lately, one of the topics for discussion on YACKon.com has been the decision by this fine newspaper to boost its circulation and offer the paper for free. Generally speaking, the response to

this news has been quite positive. But not everyone felt that way. Some thought it was a gimmick. Some wondered if the paper would stay the same. Others thought it was wasteful to print so many papers. One mail carrier who regularly posts on YACKon.com bemoaned the extra work of delivering thousands of newspapers every week.

I think some of the resistance to this idea is due to the fact that providing something excellent for no charge is so incredibly foreign to us. We regularly pay through the nose - everything from toilet seats to gallons of milk to sneakers. Prices are not supposed to go down. They're supposed to skyrocket through the ceiling. If you're not wincing while you're grabbing for your wallet, it's simply not the Nantucket way.

Many futurists and economists feel that "free" is the way of the future, however. Some people envision a time when phone service will be completely free, as long as you're willing to listen to a 10-second ad before you place a call. Or give businesses permission to send you messages through the phone or Internet in exchange for free service. We already have Internet services that are free. And close-tofree public transportation supported by advertising. Imagine going to a restaurant and getting your meal for free in exchange for reading the ads in the menu. Or getting a car for free if all of the radio stations played commercials while you drove.

Soon everything in the world will be free and we will all live in a wonderful utopia where all our needs are taken care of. This of course would signal the collapse of civilization as there would no longer be money changing hands, and no one would be paying for anything. So no one would be able to get rich, and the motivation to even get out of bed and do one's job would be gone entirely. Anarchy would cast a dark shadow over the world and everything would come to an abrupt stop. That is, until someone got smart and started making a fortune selling black-market antidepressants.

Still, I don't think a free newspaper on Nantucket signals the coming apocalypse. In fact, it could lead to more cost savings. I'm hoping that other businesses see the great example The Nantucket Independent has set and follow suit. It would be great for one of the gas stations to start offering free gas while others raise their rates. Or perhaps we can have one of the salons providing free haircuts. And I'd love to get a free trip on the airlines once in a while. How will those businesses make money? They'll make it up in volume. Yeah.

(I'm not sure what that means, as I'm more of a word guy than a numbers guy, but I think it really sounds good anyway.)

Of course, while many things on this island are expensive, and I often tend to gripe a little bit too much about them, I will admit that there are many things on this island that are, in fact, completely free, just like The Nantucket Independent will soon be.

For example, our beaches are all still free. We can go there, park there, swim there and watch our dogs poop in the dunes there, all for free. This is an amazing thing when you consider that many other communities charge for parking at their beaches or require that people purchase a beach permit to use the beach.

Another thing that is free here: the amazing and seemingly endless walking trails our island has to offer. Wild and quiet places where you can lose yourself in solitude (or get lost entirely, so be sure to stop by the Nantucket Land Bank office on Broad Street, across from the Brotherhood and pick up a map of the Land Bank properties - also free!)

Another free thing is the amazingly wild and often outrageous entertainment provided by our local boards and commissions. All of the meetings are open to the public and provide hours of great governtainment. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Another free thing that Nantucketers have been taking advantage of for centuries is what is known as "watching the pass." Also known as sitting on a bench downtown and getting a good look at the tourists and other folks. Hey, it's much cheaper than cable. And it's interactive.

Finally, YACKon.com has always been free. But, as was recently quoted in the Boston Globe, many consider it to be a "cesspool of negativity" and misinformation. Still our little cesspool is free, and always will be, thank goodness.

YACK on. I

Grant Sanders is the host of YACK, the Nantucket Online Community at YACKon.com and he loves getting free stuff. He still cherishes his free Showtime beach towel from a Nantucket Film Festival five years ago. His views are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Nantucket Independent. Or his wife.