Is it all really free?

In our world everyone prefers free over spending any amount of money. Our world is enveloped in technology which can be both beneficial and harmful to our future. Even Hollywood has dove into the possibilities on how technology will destroy our world from Irobot to Disney's lighthearted twist, Wall-E. Most adults from this century would be "lost" without their cell phones or iPads but just a century or two back the first phone was barely being invented. However technology also keeps us connected together by supplying us the news of the world from the Aurora shooting to who wore what dress on the red carpet this year for the virtuous Golden Globe Awards. Information is supplied to us through technology, unfortuantely technology is not free. The word "free" always has that special ring to it that grabs your attention. For example cell phone companies may offer you a "free" new iPhone 5 and in tiny script in the corner of the ad is says "with a 2 full year contract". On Google they offer search engines that allow individuals to explore the internet world for free which attracts many users which in turn attracts many sponsors due to the amount of publicity they will receive for "partnering" with Google to get their information out there. For information that is beneficial to the public and would expand our World's knowledge such as the news, articles, ect.. I believe it should be free. However, nothing is really free. The person who wrote that article or told that breaking story is needing some compensation for their hard work and effort to pay their bills, feed their families, enjoy their lives. So the real question is how can we come together to supply the public with information that is beneficial to the world for free? Aaron Swartz unfortunately died trying to do just this. Swartz broke the law but who did it really harm? Did the person that wrote an article 20 years ago that was on the database that he cracked starving just because he took his article and gave it to the general public? Probably not. Free information would greatly benefit any individual, not just me as a college student, but anybody. A doctor may be researching the cure for cancer and because an article that he needed cost too much he doesn't find the cure. I think the "open access wiki model" which includes everyone involved in the process not wanting money would greatly benefit learning experiences for everyone and open new doors for the technology age.