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Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

bloomberg.com

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Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#111

Post by Joeri »

digikata wrote: post #99
amelius wrote: post #6

It may be better for the environment to not own stuff, but instead use services. For example, take a fridge. If I buy a fridge, the company I buy it from has an incentive to make it break in N years, so they can sell me a new one, i.e. "planned obsolescence". However, if I subscribe to a service to keep my food and beverages at a certain temperature, then the company has the incentive to make the fridge last as long…

It sounds like a nightmare to me. A fridge service provider might run the hardware longer, but they wouldn't care much about your power bill, nor fridge features - if old phone monopolies, cable boxes and current isp's are any indicator. And good luck trying to prove to a fridge service provider that their unit has an intermittent thermostat problem... Recycling might be the responsibility of the company, but they mi…

A fridge service provider would care just as much about your power bill as a fridge vendor.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#112

Post by [deleted] »

Joeri wrote: post #111
digikata wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like a nightmare to me. A fridge service provider might run the hardware longer, but they wouldn't care much about your power bill, nor fridge features - if old phone monopolies, cable boxes and current isp's are any indicator. And good luck trying to prove to a fridge service provider that their unit has an intermittent thermostat problem... Recycling might be the responsibility of the company, but they mi…

A fridge service provider would care just as much about your power bill as a fridge vendor.

[deleted]

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#113

Post by sct202 »

ilamont wrote: post #15

Amazon’s Kindle and other methods of online reading have revolutionized how Americans consume text. Fifteen years ago, people typically owned the books and magazines they were reading. Much less so now. The statements about books are not accurate. Ebook sales are still just a fraction of print sales in many genres - NPD data indicates ebooks are less than 20% of total unit sales for nonfiction, children, and young ad…

I know that I have started to borrow more ebooks rather than buying now that my Kindle is finally compatible. Also prices on a lot of books are kind of high compared to new paper books, like a lot of times the price difference is $1-2. For things that I can wait on, I've switched back to buying used books and waiting.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#114

Post by justadudeama »

seibelj wrote: post #35
ilamont wrote: post #15

Amazon’s Kindle and other methods of online reading have revolutionized how Americans consume text. Fifteen years ago, people typically owned the books and magazines they were reading. Much less so now. The statements about books are not accurate. Ebook sales are still just a fraction of print sales in many genres - NPD data indicates ebooks are less than 20% of total unit sales for nonfiction, children, and young ad…

Anecdotal, but every reader I know (including me) flirted with ebooks and then switched back to paper. For me, it’s less strain on my eyes, it always works even without electricity, I can lend it out to friends easily, and I like to expand the aesthetic of my bookshelf. I’m also more likely to reread all or part of a physical book. Ebooks are simply inferior.

I personally try to read all of my books on Kindle. I take a lot of notes and highlights in my books, and with Kindle I can export those and keep them forever (and also have it be searchable), whereas a book it takes up a ton of space and is much less accessible.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#115

Post by gascan »

amelius wrote: post #109
gascan wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you assume too much about which type of fridge represents the lowest cost. Countless enterprises have already embraced "cheap to buy, cheap to replace" products in favor of long lasting reliable products. Now, the one place a company with a fleet of fridges could really do the world good would be maintenance & repair. When you've got all your own repair crew on the payroll and you operate one kind of fridge,…

> The one place a company with a fleet of fridges could really do the world good would be maintenance & repair. When you've got all your own repair crew on the payroll and you operate one kind of fridge, those costs plummet. Yes, so the market will ensure that this kind of company will prevail.

Sure, but then that kind of company starts to look more like a fridge repair business than a "RaaS".

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#116

Post by Teknoman117 »

I sometimes worry about how many Kindle books I own. eBooks are extremely convienent (except maybe the need to consume power to view them), but as this article points out, the ownership problem is concerning. All it takes is my Amazon account getting stolen, or Amazon exercising some right they've given themselves to take the book away.

What I'd really like to see is a push for "drm-less" books, so you wouldn't be tied to Amazon's systems in order to read something you've bought rights to access.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#117

Post by dv_dt »

amelius wrote: post #109
gascan wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you assume too much about which type of fridge represents the lowest cost. Countless enterprises have already embraced "cheap to buy, cheap to replace" products in favor of long lasting reliable products. Now, the one place a company with a fleet of fridges could really do the world good would be maintenance & repair. When you've got all your own repair crew on the payroll and you operate one kind of fridge,…

> The one place a company with a fleet of fridges could really do the world good would be maintenance & repair. When you've got all your own repair crew on the payroll and you operate one kind of fridge, those costs plummet. Yes, so the market will ensure that this kind of company will prevail.

Not necessarily, depending on all kinds of market factors, e.g. like stickyness of the transaction: how lazy would consumers be about changing out a fridge provider with poor service, or locking in the consumers with time boxed commitments. The slower and more inconvenient the transaction, the more the provider can wedge in rentier profits, and the poorer the market will respond.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#118

Post by peaktechisnow »

amelius wrote: post #6

It may be better for the environment to not own stuff, but instead use services. For example, take a fridge. If I buy a fridge, the company I buy it from has an incentive to make it break in N years, so they can sell me a new one, i.e. "planned obsolescence". However, if I subscribe to a service to keep my food and beverages at a certain temperature, then the company has the incentive to make the fridge last as long…

I think we just reached peak tech, ladies and gentlemen.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#119

Post by twothamendment »

ilamont wrote: post #15

Amazon’s Kindle and other methods of online reading have revolutionized how Americans consume text. Fifteen years ago, people typically owned the books and magazines they were reading. Much less so now. The statements about books are not accurate. Ebook sales are still just a fraction of print sales in many genres - NPD data indicates ebooks are less than 20% of total unit sales for nonfiction, children, and young ad…

There are many things I like about Ebooks, but until I can lend it to a friend or sell it when I'm done with it, I'm done with them.

I can buy a used (and sometimes new) paper copy cheaper than an Ebook and when I'm done I can decided if I want to keep it sell it or give it away.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#120

Post by anonuser123456 »

digikata wrote: post #99
amelius wrote: post #6

It may be better for the environment to not own stuff, but instead use services. For example, take a fridge. If I buy a fridge, the company I buy it from has an incentive to make it break in N years, so they can sell me a new one, i.e. "planned obsolescence". However, if I subscribe to a service to keep my food and beverages at a certain temperature, then the company has the incentive to make the fridge last as long…

It sounds like a nightmare to me. A fridge service provider might run the hardware longer, but they wouldn't care much about your power bill, nor fridge features - if old phone monopolies, cable boxes and current isp's are any indicator. And good luck trying to prove to a fridge service provider that their unit has an intermittent thermostat problem... Recycling might be the responsibility of the company, but they mi…

Right, but it doesn't seem like a fridge vendor would be a monopoly. It would be a competitive market where power consumption would be an attribute consumers consider.
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