CW Pakistan
  • Legacy
    • Legacy Editorial
    • Editor’s Note
  • Academy
  • Wired
  • Cellcos
  • PayTech
  • Business
  • Ignite
  • Digital Pakistan
  • DFDI
  • PSEB
  • PASHA
  • TechAdvisor
  • GamePro
  • Partnerships
  • PCWorld
  • Macworld
  • Infoworld
  • TechHive
  • TechAdvisor
0
0
0
0
0
Subscribe
CW Pakistan
CW Pakistan CW Pakistan
  • Legacy
    • Legacy Editorial
    • Editor’s Note
  • Academy
  • Wired
  • Cellcos
  • PayTech
  • Business
  • Ignite
  • Digital Pakistan
  • DFDI
  • PSEB
  • PASHA
  • TechAdvisor
  • GamePro
  • Partnerships
  • CIO

The Era of Ownership Is Ending

  • September 11, 2017
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Share
Share

 

In the 20th century we got used to a certain way of thinking: if you needed something, you bought it. Cars, houses, records, you named it. Efficient manufacturing and logistics made it possible to create an unprecedented global overflow of stuff. Ownership quickly became about being someone; it was a way of defining who you are.

All of this is still very much the case today: buying and owning things is a huge part of our lives. Yet something is still markedly different now: most of us have stopped buying CDs and DVDs. Young people aren’t buying cars anymore. Books are selling fewer copies. Many things we used to buy and keep at home we no longer do.

Let us take a closer look at what is happening with music, for instance. Artists still release albums, but very few people actually buy the physical album. Instead, they might buy the songs digitally on iTunes, and a growing amount of people will listen to the track on-demand. Music is accessed, not owned. The same goes for your favourite film. Ten years ago you would have bought a DVD to watch over and over again. Now you have it on stand-by on Netflix.

And this is just the beginning.

Read: A Novel Idea – Pakistan’s First Site and Web App for Book Swapping

Things get really interesting when we start talking about cars instead of music. What would it be like to access a car on-demand? You might say that we already have taxis. But a taxi isn’t as convenient as Netflix is. What would it be like to actually have the convenience of your own car without owning it?

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a model for traffic without ownership. You pay a monthly fee for it, like with Spotify, tell the app where you are going and get instant access to taxis, Ubers, buses, and so on. Everything is available on-demand and ownership is no longer needed.

MaaS is part of a trend called the “as a service” model. The framework began as a simple idea in software development, when companies started paying for access instead of buying permanent licenses for office programs. Now the same model is moving into the material world. Netflix, Spotify, AirBnb and Uber are all “as a service” companies.

Read: Lilium, A Flying Car Start-up, Raises $90 Million

“As a service” models become more and more feasible when the number of sensors that surround us increases. This development is often called the “Internet of Things.” But when we consider the Internet of Things from the perspective of disappearing products and the increase in new service models, we can effectively conclude that it is, in fact, the “Internet of No Things.”

What is so revolutionary about the “as a service” model then? Why is it good not to own things? There are two main reasons and these are related: First, ownership makes us lazy. Second, the planet cannot survive with us consuming so much stuff.

When we buy things we easily get bored with them and forget they exist, or, alternatively, use them only because we own them. On-demand is about using things when we actually need them. It leads to the more effective use of resources. AirBnb gets more people to use the same apartment and Uber gets more people to use the same car.

Read: Customer Wins: A Look at Careem’s Eid Specials!

It takes a large amount of natural resources to manufacture a car, house, or smartphone in the first place. We are now running out of those resources. That’s why digital “as a service” platforms show great promise. In the future the “as a service” model will revolutionise some areas of our lives that are completely unsustainable right now such as housing, mobility and communications.

Can you imagine a world where you no longer have a phone in your pocket but instead pay for communication as a service? It might sound like sci-fi, but companies around the world are already offering housing and even “Smart City as a Service.” A world without smartphones? It may very well happen.

 

This article was originally written by Nordic think tank

Error: Contact form not found.

for Futurism and can be accessed here. 

Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • AirBnB
  • CIO Pakistan
  • Demos Helsinki
  • Futurism
  • IDG news
  • IDG Pakistan
  • Lilium
  • Macs
  • Mobility-as-a-Service
  • Netflix
  • Spotify
  • technology news Pakistan
  • Uber
Previous Article
  • Technology

Envisioning A Virtual Hospital: Find My Doctor Raises Rs20mn

  • September 10, 2017
Read More
Next Article
  • Computerworld

Reflecting on the iPhone’s Decade of Excellence

  • September 12, 2017
Read More
You May Also Like
Read More
  • CIO
  • Computerworld
  • DEMO PAKISTAN
  • Ignite
  • Technology

At A TEDx Event, Industry Experts Lay Emphasis On Innovation

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Technology

Extreme Commerce and Dukan.pk Team Up For Micro-Enterprise Enablement

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Computerworld
  • Technology

In Fintech, There Are Three Areas Where AI Can Help

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Technology

Dubai Islamic Bank Chooses C-Square For Social Media, WhatsApp Banking Partner

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Computerworld
  • Technology

In 11MFY21, ICT Exports Brought in $1.9 billion

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Computerworld
  • Technology

A portal has been developed to help Pakistanis living abroad and missions

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Computerworld
  • Technology

RapidCompute is the first Pakistani company to provide proactive management services to Runecast.

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022
Read More
  • Business
  • CIO
  • Computerworld
  • Technology

To comply with Pakistani legislation, TikTok has removed 6.5 million videos from the market.

  • Press Desk
  • April 15, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending Posts
  • Raptr Legacy Becomes Official Esports Team Focused on Free Fire and Tier 2-3 Gamers
    • June 13, 2025
  • K-Electric Concludes EPIC 2025 with Vision to Transform Pakistan’s Energy Landscape
    • June 13, 2025
  • NADRA to Block SIMs Linked to Expired CNICs Starting July 31
    • June 13, 2025
  • Pakistan Considers Revising E-Commerce Taxes to Support SMEs and Digital Economy
    • June 13, 2025
  • UX Pakistan 2025 at LUMS Highlights Design’s Role in Social Innovation
    • June 12, 2025
about
CWPK Legacy
Launched in 1967 internationally, ComputerWorld is the oldest tech magazine/media property in the world. In Pakistan, ComputerWorld was launched in 1995. Initially providing news to IT executives only, once CIO Pakistan, its sister brand from the same family, was launched and took over the enterprise reporting domain in Pakistan, CWPK has emerged as a holistic technology media platform reporting everything tech in the country. It remains the oldest continuous IT publishing brand in the country and in 2025 is set to turn 30 years old, which will be its biggest benchmark and a legacy it hopes to continue for years to come. CWPK is part of the SPIN/IDG Wakhan media umbrella.
Read more
Explore Computerworld Sites Globally
  • computerworld.es
  • computerworld.com.pt
  • computerworld.com
  • cw.no
  • computerworldmexico.com.mx
  • computerwoche.de
  • computersweden.idg.se
  • computerworld.hu
Content from other IDG brands
  • PCWorld
  • Macworld
  • Infoworld
  • TechHive
  • TechAdvisor
CW Pakistan CW Pakistan
  • CWPK
  • CXO
  • DEMO
  • WALLET

CW Media & all its sub-brands are copyrighted to SPIN-IDG Wakhan Media Inc., the publishing arm of NCC-RP Group. This site is designed by Crunch Collective. ©️1995-2025. Read Privacy Policy.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.