A Future of Leaseholders

[william kent]

Over the years I've become increasingly aware of how many of the things we used to pay to own we now pay to access. The obvious one's housing, but it's happening all over the place. You don't own any of the songs on Spotify, you don't own any of the shows on Netflix. They can take them away or change them at their leisure. We're even at the point where farmers can't fix their own equipment as it's run on software provided by the distributor and you have to contact their engineers to do anything with it, like taking your tractor to the Apple Store.

Where's it all going? Why are we so blasé about giving it all away? What happens once every aspect of your life is reliant on a subscription model?

 

[Leo]

one of the main reasons I still buy vinyl and cds. if I love it, I want to own it and not be at the mercy of a streaming service who could jack up their monthly fees, delete the album or just go out of business. also why I shy away from the cloud, rather take my chances with multiple hard drive backups.

part of it is shear economics: a company can sell you a DVD (remember those?) one time for $6.99, or charge you $6.99 a month to access that film and others.

the plus is you can dip in and out without committing to buying lots of stuff. if you don't feel like accumulating records/cds, then Spotify is a decent option.

 

[william kent]

Yeah, this is the back and forth for me. I consume most of my media via streaming because it's cheap and convenient, but I hate the thought of being tethered to these services so I still buy CDs and DVDs from time to time as a physical back up. It can feel a little pointless though, buying stuff to leave untouched on the shelf whilst I remain glued to YouTube and Spotify.

 

[Leo]

maybe it's an age thing. I grew up with buying records being the only option, the streaming services are the new weird thing to me.

 

[baboon2004]

I'm quite happy with this model for films, as it was extremely rare that I had DVDs that I would ever watch more than once. Also, growing up I was much more likely to see films on TV or rent them from the video shop, than to buy them. The collector thing only kicked off at university when I was amongst film obsessives, so I don't necessarily see the ownership model as the model of my youth.

Music, less happy with this model.

Housing - now that's an entirely different matter.

 

[DannyL]

I think you have to differentiate between digital resources with one off or limited uses and essentials like housing. Interesting idea though.

 

[pattycakes_]

Renting software has gotten huge. Photoshop is probably one of the biggest ones. But loads of music production stuff too.

 

[luka]

Haven't we got a thread about this already? I thought I started one when my re-reading of UBIK (where he get locked out of his apartment, or his fridge, or his toaster or something. Very prescient.) coincided with getting locked out of my Microsoft word, something I wasn't aware of leasing at all. It literally held my writings to ransom. if you want to see them again, pay up.

 

[pattycakes_]

Couldn't you open them with open office or summat?

 

[luka]

No

 

[luka]

I was working on a document that had a deadline (as many students and workers would be) and that really brought home how pernicious the whole thing was

 

[yyaldrin]

there's this thing now where people lease their bicycles. i think you pay around 20 euro a month. if it get's stolen, you get a new one i believe, and if something breaks they repair it for you. i think it also has to do with the fact that newer generation lost the skills to repair things or to come up with inventive solutions. that, plus every city now holds large portions of ex-pats who don't want to "settle for good" and go for these in between solutions. it's a waste of money these deals.

 

[luka]

Haven't we got a thread about this already? I thought I started one when my re-reading of UBIK (where he get locked out of his apartment, or his fridge, or his toaster or something. Very prescient.) coincided with getting locked out of my Microsoft word, something I wasn't aware of leasing at all. It literally held my writings to ransom. if you want to see them again, pay up.

This was many years ago by the way. I can't stress enough how ahead of version I was here.

 

[yyaldrin]

i have this intuitive feeling that it's also because it's becoming harder and harder for companies to make profit. take consumer electronic goods, like televisions. those used to be so expensive, now they cost nothing. i think food in supermarkets is also still relatively cheap. capital is moving into new territories. housing being the most extreme case.

 

[luka]

Well that's what they say. You reach saturation point. Everyone has a tv, a fridge, a phone, a home computer, a microwave, a vcr, a car, and then your economy goes into speculation mode, money making money. This is one reason why countries like China have those kind of growth rates because not everyone there has a cheese toastie machine yet. I think that's how it goes?

 

[yyaldrin]

that's it i think yes. it is a way of delaying these build-in flaws that are inherent to capitalism. but you can't rise property prices for ever right? this too will have some saturation point?

actually, i saw thirdform tweeting something about it yesterday, referencing this:



but then what happens once the whole world is incorporated, if every market has been opened and every country has followed the same process the proto-capitalist countries have underwent?

 

[Mr. Tea]

I was working on a document that had a deadline (as many students and workers would be) and that really brought home how pernicious the whole thing was

Open Office has an awful lot going for it. The interfaces are a bit clunky compared to the equivalent Microsoft programs but you don't have to put up with any of that crap (or buy it in the first place, for that matter).

 

[luka]

I don't even have a computer any more but when I can afford a new one I'll bear that in mind

 

[luka]

Read UBIK I reckon. Or read it again.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Sounds interesting, might put it on my to-read list.