Aaron Renn

Aaron Renn

Articles

Life as a Subscription Service

Will you own nothing and be happy?

Aaron M. Renn's avatar
Aaron M. Renn
Sep 25, 2025
∙ Paid
2
Share
Upgrade to paid to play voiceover

John Robb posted on X a prediction that, “Ten years from now, Elon is going to be selling townhouses in gated, walkable, solar/battery powered communities located all over the country. Communities filled with autonomous bots that do everything from landscaping to cooking to housecleaning to security.”

I’d put a twist on that: what if rather than selling it to you, he gives you a subscription to it?

Companies have moving away from selling products towards selling subscriptions, because that’s a better financial model for them.

When it comes to media, this has produced a phenomenon called “subscription fatigue.”

The traditional cure for this is the subscription bundle. What if Elon Musk or a company like Amazon put together a subscription bundle that included much of what you need for live in a single, convenient package? Musk’s firms are already moving in this direction due to the necessities of his Mars colonization goal.

Will people be willing to own nothing and be happy?

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Aaron Renn to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Urbanophile, LLC
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture