Video description : Subscription services exist for nearly everything consumers buy. Many, like Netflix or Spotify, start out affordable, but the cost adds up over time. And while signing up is effortless, cancelling can be difficult. Companies such as Adobe and Amazon have even been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of using dark patterns to trap consumers in subscriptions.
But rising costs are only part of the problem. The subscription model is eroding consumer’s opportunity to own what they buy. So how did we get to the point where practically everything is a subscription? And why is owning nothing making everything so expensive?
00:00 - Intro 01:58 - Why subscriptions are everywhere 06:26 - Companies love subscriptions 09:13 - Subscriptions are sneaky 10:29 - Cancelling is difficult 13:39 - Own nothing economy 16:52 - Consumers fight back 22:56 - The future of subscriptions 24:24 - Credits
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I remember in the 90s when you had to buy CDs and DVDs (or VHS). It was awful. You couldn’t afford much so you had to be stingy in what you watched and listened to. At the time I remember dreaming of endless content options that I could try. Streaming is that dream. The fact that the shitty companies are making it worse and increasing prices doesn’t mean the streaming subscription model is inherently flawed.
The most annoying thing is that so many people keep doing it that it’s profitable. I’m in my 40’s. My only subscription aside from phone and Internet is a VPN.
Because it’s renting. From every company that can get exclusivity to something you want to rent.
Wow there’s some really bad deals here!
History is full of trendy hustles, but people aren’t usually dumb enough to keep falling for them forever. Probably that will apply to these, too, and a lot of shitty subscriptions will go the way of the Juicero.
It’s worth mentioning renting rather than owning isn’t an intrinsically bad concept. Owning your own bus probably doesn’t interest you, and while streaming costs are going up, it’s still a better deal than buying a DVD you watch once.
You have to think when the infamous “own nothing and being happy” quote was coined, they were imaging there still was a nice diversified portfolio of investments in the background, which amounts to owning a small piece of everything.
Owning nothing = no equity.
Reminds me of the old saying around, Cant be conservative if you have nothing to conserve. It really does come into play when we have young trying to build a life and have stability. Ripping that away and renting everything back does not build communities.
Can conserve power structures that give someone else the right to our surplus. 😅
