When I switched to Mac, I decided to completely switch to licensed music, since iTunes had all the tools to conveniently purchase and listen to music. Fortunately, my media library was small, so in total I spent only a couple of thousand rubles. As soon as the service Apple Music appeared, I did not understand it for a long time. Why should I pay for renting music when I can buy it once and listen to it all the time.
But communicating with friends and acquaintances, I realized that for many a small monthly rental amount could become the key to the world of licensed content. People were not ready to buy a track for 15 rubles, but they were quite ready to pay 160 rubles for access to the entire media library Apple or Google Music.
I read somewhere an interesting study that modern youth are much less attached to material things, so they more often prefer inexpensive rent to a reliable purchase. And then I realized that I was already a little outdated in this regard, because for me it is much easier and more comfortable to acquire a thing for my permanent use, and not to rent it. This applies to both the digital and the real world.
And yet I use several streaming services myself. Why? Because I'm paying for the convenience rather than the content itself. I like that Spotify selects playlists based on what I listened to, that I have access to Apple Music from any smartphone, that I can watch a series on Amediatek or ivi directly from my TV, without connecting it to a computer. That there is a continuation from the place where I left off, and, of course, that there is no need to wait for the download of the next series.
But I don't really understand the rent of films: here is a film for rent for 100 rubles, but you can buy it for 350 rubles. In the first case, it is a pity to pay money for a one-time viewing of one film, when the subscription costs 200-300 rubles, in the second case, the cost of full ownership of the film also seems excessive. It's funny that there are no such problems with music, with going to the cinema too.
By the way, about cinemas. I will tell you a sad story that happened to me six months ago. My friend and I went to King Arthur at Five Stars on Novokuznetskaya. About halfway through the movie, the guy next to us started watching hockey on his phone. He watched without sound, but the bright display constantly distracted attention against the backdrop of a dark movie theater. I made two comments to the guy, he ignored. I called the administrator, he turned off the phone for five minutes, then continued watching the match.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of arrogant and shameless people, and you never know who you will stumble upon in the cinema, add to this a 20-minute advertisement before the show and we will get not the most pleasant pastime. And you know, for the opportunity to watch the novelty of the film distribution at home on the big screen simultaneously with the cinemas, I would just pay the same 300-500 rubles. Alas, I think that we will not come to this soon, because the availability of digital copies will immediately lead to the heyday of piracy and uploading the film to the public on the same day. I think that is why this practice has not yet been introduced.
The idea of subscription and rent is not only in music and video, but also spread to software and games. And I cannot say that this is good. I understand the desire of developers to have a constant income from users of their programs and games, but as an end consumer, I am not ready to pay for it constantly. On the other hand, the subscription is usually much cheaper than the final game or program. For me, at one time, this was a good reason to use Office 365 for 250 rubles a month. Of course, I later bought myself a lifetime license for one Mac and turned off the subscription.
Another great example of the prevalence of rental is taxi and car sharing. People who were not ready to buy a car first used a taxi, and then those who had a license switched to car sharing. And this is a great practice in my opinion. For example, I'm not ready to buy a car myself, but I would love to use car sharing if I had a license. In the meantime, I go by taxi, and something tells me that if I had a car, I would spend much more money on it.
The last, most difficult example remains: we are, of course, talking about buying a home on a mortgage versus renting. And you know, I don't like both options. The first is by the fact that you are putting on shackles for the next 10-15 years, the second is by the fact that in 10-15 years you will still not have your own home. A healthy compromise is to save up for housing yourself, but given the current value of the property, this is also a slow process. However, we do not have a banking resource, so I will not discuss this topic in depth. I will only note that renting at the moment gives much more freedom and flexibility and, apparently, this is attractive for young people.
And in conclusion, let's talk about you, dear readers. Tell us what services you use for rent, and what you buy, and why. The logic is different for everyone, it will be interesting to read.