The main reason why I've never really liked the idea of companies leading with a free product or service is because those things tend to set the expectation of the consumer, and it makes many believe all things should be free to some degree or another.
Many times after using said product or service, people come out of the experience disgruntled, feeling like they've been deceived, because even though they could get along just find with the free, they do end up spending for the premium stuff because it's really the better experience. But it's also expensive after a while.
That said, the very idea that anyone could possibly think anything is for free is preposterous. There's no other way to put it. Even if you managed to take the resources you have around you to build something from them without interacting with anyone or anything else to do it, it's still going to take your time, and time, in my opinion, is the most precious commodity of all.
Our decentralized system here hasn't proven to be that conducive to educating everyone about anything, let alone what the platform was. A banner across the stop of every page, like the ones put up talking about the hard fork might work, though. This site is free to use, but to unlock its full potential, as well as yours, you might want to consider an investment of at least $50 might be a place to start. Not necessarily those words, but something like them, acting as reminder 24/7.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Education is something that we fell completely flat with. We, as a community, set unfair expectations especially those who are marketing the blockchain on YT and FB. They are setting people up for failure.
We need to do a better job of explaining what the blockchain is about and why we are involved in it. Also, there needs to be reasonable expectations drawn by the community for newer people.
People will usually adjust and embrace what is laid out as long as they are not misled. Some might leave immediately but most will understand. That is much better than them finding out later and feeling conned.
Yes. So, how would you go about that? If basically it's the community's task to take and run with, how do we create a cohesive—speak as one one voice—kind of message that isn't centralized and isn't misleading. And how do we account for the rogues who are going to go off and do their ego trips, while bringing in the dozens, hundreds, thousands—whatever the tally is?
I mean, some of those folks get discredited here, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're discredited quickly, or are discredited at all elsewhere.
We need non-centralized, one voice message non-police, too. :)