There was a time when buying meant owning.
Before, you bought a movie, a CD, a game, and you OWNED that content, able to resell it later on the secondhand market. With digital media, you're not paying less, and nothing is truly yours. There's no way to resell it, and even the subscriptions you pay for can only be used at home on your TV or on a single mobile phone. That's why we should use the same consumption methods as in the 2000s. Old school, right? Have all this stuff at home and share it with friends who want it too.
I remember a few years ago, I had hard drives full of movies and computer games that we shared with friends. Now your games depend on Steam, and your movies on your Netflix or Prime Video subscription. If it's active, everything's OK; if it goes down, you lose everything. Or they simply remove a movie or series from their catalogs and that's it, end of story.
This isn't an ode to piracy (or is it, hahaha).
Books? It's the same thing; we depend on Kindle now... Have physical books. Where are those shelves in the house full of books and magazines?
Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, I have no privacy, and life has never been better: http://wef.ch/2hAlNMV
Are we really better off? The same internet sites—if Cloudflare goes down, hundreds of thousands of websites go down at the same time.
The moment the servers are permanently shut down, humanity will witness the unprecedented burning of the Library of Alexandria.
A car—if you buy one, at least here in Brazil, you have to pay taxes, IPVA, etc., for 20 years. The car isn't yours. A house—the same—you have to pay IPTU for life. You live the fantasy of owning your own home, but you simply have to pay "rent" to the state for possessing something that is supposedly "yours."
Our dependence is ever-increasing, and our autonomy ever-decreasing.
Excuse me if I've been rambling, but these were thoughts that came to mind just now when I saw that photo on Twitter.
I completely agree with what you’ve said; we’ve reached a point of no return. And the really bad thing is that people don’t seem to realise just how harmful this digital format is that they’re forcing on us.
I recently watched a video by someone who mentioned exactly what you’re saying about video games, and how they killed off the physical format to pull a fast one on us with the new digital format, where you no longer buy the game, as we did 10 or 20 years ago, but instead you simply rent the right to use it – a right that can be taken away at any moment.
Absolutely true.
Bitcoin is the only asset you can really own.
good question, think about it a fair bit. #1330791, #1459569
My short answer is yes.
I think our times (and certainly our deprived Boomer elders) overdid ownership and also underdid it in important ways.
I’ve just read your articles, and they align quite closely with my current way of thinking. That said, I still feel a deep need to own something I can truly call my own, even if I don’t use it every day. Ironically, I have tools that sit unused for months, so I certainly understand the efficiency argument in favor of renting.
A house is another example: it provides stability—especially if you have a family—but it also ties you to a specific location.
I’m still torn between that freedom and ownership. Perhaps I just need to let my perspective on it mature a little more.
Appreciate you taking the time and I'm glad it sparked some ideas! <3
Oh... thanks... I'm going to read your articles.
a registered owner is just a keeper, with obligations. a custodian and a dead entity ;)
My answer is yes. Isn't life all about not saying no to a question like that?
Yes, thankfully. You never know what tomorrow brings. Hope for the best.