Ramit, from I Will Teach You To Be Rich fame, has posted an interesting article on "What is Value?" He's toying with the idea of podcasting and the possibility of charging for it. When he mentioned this via a chat forum, his audience flew off the handle and came up with inane reasons why this was a bad thing.

Needless to say, Ramit then dialogued his thoughts on young people who don't value investments well. I get Ramit's point but I'm a little bamboozled as to why he searched the masses for an opinion on this.

Value is a very intangible commodity. If people think that Ramit's podcasts are value for money and they can get some great inspiration from them, then they will pay the dollars. If they're not they won't.

If Alan Greenspan decided to podcast on a regular basis and charge for them I'm sure he would get a very receptive uptake. However, now that he's no longer in the top job his advice may not be as useful to some as it previously may have been. Therefore, the perceived value for those listeners would not be there and they would no longer pay.

That's basic economics. Demand and supply.

Here's a tip Ramit. If you're wanting to make money from them and also keep your audience produce two podcasts. One for the cheap masses that is a cut down version of the one you plan to charge for. That way you keep everybody happy.