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Marc Ermshaus

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Kevin Kelly on ownership

Published on 23 Jan 2009. Tagged with thecloud, kevinkelly.

Very likely, in the near future, I won't "own" any music, or books, or movies. Instead I will have immediate access to all music, all books, all movies using an always-on service, via a subscription fee or tax. I won't buy – as in make a decision to own – any individual music or books because I can simply request to see or hear them on demand from the stream of ALL. I may pay for them in bulk but I won't own them. The request to enjoy a work is thus separated from the more complicated choice of whether I want to "own" it. I can consume a movie, music or book without having to decide or follow up on ownership.

It's hard to pick a good quotation from Kevin Kelly's "Better Than Owning" because at first, the text is pretty easy to agree with but becomes more and more questionable when Kelly starts to write about shared ownership of clothing.