For the past decade or so, subscriptions seem to be all the craze for companies, even those (or maybe, particularly those) involved in the tech world. And when it comes to corporate greediness (which subscription services have evolved into, whether we like it or not), nothing is safe.
Earlier this July, I read the news about Netflix axing their cheapest ad-free option in selected regions, and in its place, they will provide a much cheaper option, albeit ad-supported—one of the things that I am trying to avoid by subscribing to their service.
Months ago, the Humane AI Pin was released, and it’s a wearable device that acts as an AI-powered virtual assistant. It costs more or less the same price as a mid-range smartphone but is less capable. It had many promises, but the product was mostly a disappointment, particularly with the fact that apart from paying a lot for it, you also have to pay a subscription plan for it to access all of its features. Without the subscription plan, it is basically useless, and you’re much better off with a smartphone.
Nothing is safe, as I can confidently tell you.
Have you not heard of BMW—a car company—turning their heated seating into a subscription feature?
Unfortunately, there isn’t any good news here. Subscriptions are most likely here to stay. It is, after all, a business model that is incredibly lucrative. That is because the companies have turned their products into something addictive. Now that you are hooked, a subscription ensures the company that there will be predictable revenue—that you are, more or less, guaranteed to stay as a customer for the coming months, and that you can become a steady source of their income.
At the same time, many companies like Apple, Samsung, or Google will probably place this subscription at the heart of their ecosystem. By doing so, that would incentivize you to buy their other products to make the most of your investment. Unless there is an immense backlash for the company that threatens their existence, they will keep milking their users for all the money they have per year.
Subscriptions are not all that bad.
After all, one of its selling points is that it is lighter on the wallet. You won’t be paying thousands upfront for something that you might only find useful for a month or two. It is like a taste test—not a free one, but a cheaper one—and if you like what you tasted, you can ask for more.
It was this low payment option that made subscriptions enticing.
Everything would have been fine if the companies did not have the idea that, with a little tweaking, subscriptions have the potential to churn out an absurd amount of profit in a predictable and reliable pattern (either monthly or annually, or any kind of timeframe).
It would have been all fine if companies did not place their own greedy intentions above the user’s welfare—something that is more of a rarity nowadays.
You see, they became deceptive in the way they used the subscription model. They place the bare-minimum, almost uncomfortable features in the lowest tier, and the pleasure and comfort only rise as you pay more.
You, as the user, obviously would prefer better options. You wouldn’t want to feel the uncomfortable experience of being interrupted by an ad or having to wait a little longer for a delivery, so you pay more, and you think that it is justified to pay more for a more premium service.
You end up paying more for extras you didn’t want, just because the supposed essentials, which they are meant to provide in the first place, are made in such a way that it would be foolish for you to stay with only the essentials.
Soon, you realize that these companies are taking a path far from what they initially promised you, and you begin to think that none of it is actually justified.
As our world transforms more and more into a digital one, and as our society and us, the users, become more and more inseparable from our digital presence, subscriptions will end up becoming the tax that we’ll have to pay for our digital lives. It will become the price for access to things we once owned, and soon, we’ll be owning fewer things and borrowing more.
So what now? Are we inevitably doomed?
Unfortunately, with how it is looking right now, the answer might be yes.
Unless the public moves the politicians to enact policies to regulate these kinds of things, we might be stuck with this for a while.
But for now, it is more realistic to think that we might really end up with a bleak (and absurdly expensive) future. It’s a future hinged on products being more about access than actual ownership. We shouldn’t be surprised if, in the future, even the tech products that have a one-time payment will have an essential feature built-in that will require a monthly payment.
What the corporations are often good at is shifting blame, so soon you’ll become convinced that this is simply how things go and the only thing that you can do, feeling powerless against the corporations, is to accept it.
