Cheap is good, free is better

The Telegraph and the FT have made a big fuss today over a report prepared for Morgan Stanley by a 15 year old on a summer work experience. You can read the report here. Morgan Stanley appeared to ave zapped the report of to several f their media clients. His report proved to be “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen. So we published it,” said Edward Hill-Wood.

Either Mr. Hill-Wood gives his kids too much pocket money or he should spend more time at home watching what they do. Kids like technology, or more precisely, the internet, because it gives them a lot of what they want: content (music, videos, communication) in return for very little of that of which they have very little: money. They aren't particularly tech-savvy, but they are usually cash-poor and resourceful enough to learn. These were the people who embraced texting because it was cheaper than talking on their mobile phones. They don't use Twitter because that costs money and they watch little TV and even less advertising and newspapers are completely off their radar.

So for the benefit of all the media moguls who we are told have analysed the report in detail The issue for you is not how to hook into teenagers, it is how to stop them getting everything for free. Sadly for you that doesn't look possible any more. A classic case of how new technology can undermine what used to be a solid business. A 15 year old could have told you that.