When will everything that isn't real be free?

I was reading an interesting article about what percentage of Android apps and iPhone apps have access to your personal information here:

http://blog.mylookout.com/2010/07/introducing-the-app-genome-project/

When I clicked on the image and saw the stat that 64% of Android apps are free versus 28% of iPhone apps. I then began to wonder if the quantity of apps had originally been free was near that percentage. At that point I began wondering...

When will everything that isn't real be free?

Now, this is a problem that has been confronting us since the advent of software and has slowly increased through the whole Napster "free music" era into the app era. Basically the only thing that has true value in life is time. And I know that these app developers that are "giving away" their apps usually also do so with ads that magically pop up every so often in the hope that you click on them to generate revenue, so they really aren't "free" as much as "annoying".

But when will that company or guy or whomever who has to give his product away finally go belly up? Sure, he can make a million or two, but like any other industry out there, those that are well funded and have an army of coders is likely to survive and expand. That's how things go. So he gives away his app and a thousand other people make the same iPhone app in a different color slightly differently with a little more sparkle and their free version pushes his to oblivion.

I guess what I'm trying to say is are we headed in the direction of a reality where we get what we want with no cost (YouTube, etc.) and have to live with the ads like TV? Is the only thing we pay for anymore the actual hardware (which costs have been obliterated as well)?

I'm trying to find the next big "thing" in America that will set us apart, above and beyond any other country with our innovation. iPhones and iPads are nice. But they aren't something that moves an entire country to another plane. Maybe giving everything away is the new norm, I just don't see it becoming anything of real use as we all become greater media consumers to the nth level.

Just make sure I don't have to pay.

-Nate