People Paying For Content? Whaaa?

I've always had this belief that once something is free, there's no going back. You can't allow me to access online articles the next day and then put up a paywall the next day, newspaper industry. Nor can you expect me to accept paying for services like Gmail, Digg or Pandora after using them for free for so long. Well, it appears as though not everyone is as cheap and/or set in their ways as I (which may or may not be a good thing. I really don't know anymore). A report released today revealed which apps are making the most money from in-app purchases (when you decided to upgrade from the free version of an app to the paid one you are making an in-app purchase).


As it turns out, the three highest grossing in-app purchases applications were in games, social networking, and books. This information is really significant because it is a measuring stick for what people are willing to pay for more types of digital content. We already know most people aren't fond of paying for music or news when in comes in a digital format (or really any type of format at this point), but now we know that there are a few key things people will pay for if they want them bad enough. Social networking sites seem to already have a handle on how they can turn their free services into profit, but if I were in publishing or gaming (mostly publishing) I would take this as a sign that I need to make more content available for digital devices (and sooner rather than later). Consumers are excited about this brave new media whether companies are ready to take the next big step or not.