I recently watched an Instagram reel in which a man did a very good job of laying out one of the biggest transfers of power that we have all ascribed to. I wish I had saved the video, because he did a way better job than I will, but I will also give you my two cents on the subject as well.

Companies are learning that they can make far more money with subscription based products rather than by selling the actual product outright. I remember when my husband and I first got a home computer (yes, I’m that old). We bought a word processing program that we had to then install on our computer, but we owned it. If we wanted to play a game, we had to purchase a disk and load it onto the computer. Turbo Tax, loaded on the computer, etc.

Now, there is rarely an option to buy and load onto your computer for a one time fee. You have to buy it through a subscription. This means the company has a constant, fairly trackable and fairly stable income stream. I understand the idea behind it, but the consumer ends up getting the short end of the stick in my opinion.

When I bought the disk and loaded the program, it was mine to keep. If I bought another computer I just loaded the program on the next computer. If I wanted a different version, I would buy the new disk, but then it was mine to keep. Now I own nothing. It’s simply being leased to me as long as I pay my bill.

So what’s the problem with that? Because you never own anything, you have no legal rights. You stop paying, you lose the program, you stop agreeing, you get cut off. You do anything the company doesn’t like, you get fees and then kicked off. Imagine for instance, I tell you all that I don’t like peas, but the WordPress owner loves peas. He finds out that I don’t like peas and decides to sensor me, lock my account, or cancel me. All because I didn’t like the same kind of food he likes.

Say someone higher up in the government decided that everyone who hates peas can no longer use their phone until they agree to like peas. I don’t own my phone, I just pay for the privilege to use it (subscription). Even though I am paid in full every month, maybe they restrict certain features, or they decide I can only call certain people until I decide I like peas.

Printers are now made in which, even though you buy the printer, the ink is by subscription. You try to gauge how many copies or prints you’ll need in a month, but if you miscalculate and use more, you can’t just go to the store and buy more ink, you have to buy it from the company, and they ship it when they ship it. You’re dead in the water until you get it. You may own the printer, but you don’t own the ability to print whenever you want, as much as you want any longer. Car companies are even starting to charge subscription fees to run the heated seats and navigation systems.

Have you ever thought about how much of the stuff you have around that you don’t even own. If you pay property taxes, even if you own your home, you’re still renting it from whomever you pay property taxes to. If you stopped, you’d be evicted. There are still items we purchase and own, but those things are getting fewer and fewer every year. The push for digital currency and the ability for someone else to control what you can even spend is on the horizon.

Are there benefits to these subscriptions? Of course there are. You never have to buy a new disk because the old one is incompatible with a new operating system. Most companies are pretty fair with their pricing, and sometimes offer the subscription for a more affordable cost than what it would have cost to purchase the program, at least for the first few months or a year. You can try out a product for a trial period of time and it’s usually pretty easy to cancel if you don’t like it. Often there is a free version with less perks, but still usable for some applications.

I personally would rather own what I spend my money on. I am not a fan of a subscription based society as you may be able to tell. I don’t know that all my theories will every come to pass, but in a lot of ways, I don’t like where we’re headed. What is your thoughts on a subscription based life?