The future is a subscription

With the first smartphone and the rise of the internet, one question got bigger and bigger? How is the future going to look like? One answer seems to be more and more answered: We will pay a lot of subscriptions and soon (almost) nothing will belong to us anymore.

Companies like Apple have been doing this indirectly for a long time (by including them in the ecosystem), but the classic way like Google One or Amazon Prime is also increasingly being promoted. But why? The customer used to buy a product and at that point it was theirs. The manufacturer no longer had any influence on what happened and what the customer does with it. With the advent of the Internet, this power was increasingly transferred to the manufacturer. Because we as customers want constant improvement and more convenience. You can also see that in the entertainment area. In the past, you would go to a trusted music store and buy a DVD / CD. But wouldn’t it be nicer to have all the CDs wherever you want for a fixed amount? So the idea of ​​Spotify and co. Was born, we all know the rest of the story.

This also shows that people are tying themselves into a subscription for more convenience and constant improvements. A one-time payment doesn’t really help a provider anymore, because the server and employees have to be paid continuously. But entertainment was just the beginning. Housing has always been expensive, but prices in major cities have continued to skyrocket in recent years. Buying apartments is becoming more and more a rarity. And gadgets? Many of them were a one-off purchase, but the surprise came later.

That was the case with Fitbit, for example. The tracker and the functions were initially free, but have now partly been hidden behind a “Fitbit Premium” subscription. This shows that we don’t really own anything anymore and companies can influence our devices even after they have been purchased. This is also the case with the Thermomix, the loudspeaker of your choice or with the smart display.

Then there is the question of mobility. How will we move in the future? Also by subscription? It would be possible – at least in cities. Car sharing services could replace cars in the city center and bus / train / taxi (e.g. Moia) routes outside of the city as well. Cars are very expensive and take up a lot of space (with little living space). Car sharing and other service providers could largely determine mobility in the future and replace the “private car” for some (which is already the case for a few).

The future will consist of subscriptions. Whether at home or on the go. We will own less and less ourselves and consume / borrow more digitally. On the one hand you can rightly criticize that, on the other hand I think that it is not as bad as many think. In order to master the challenges of the 21st century, we also have to pay attention to the environment; sharing more / living more digitally is a step in the right direction.