Access is the new Ownership

I used to collect stuff. I used to have a book collection and a music collection and a typewriter collection and a reel-to-reel player collection. I had stuff. I sought out missing pieces and paid for the privilege of adding to my store and stash.

But then the internet happened.

Value is about scarcity, and utility. Sometimes it is also (or only) about personal importance; I enjoyed the conceptual comfort of knowing that I had certain things with arms reach even if I never reached. I scoured magazines and catalogues and want ads to find the exact something that I needed.

Then the internet happened.

Supply bloomed because not only was the marketplace the entire world, but the ads could reach all sorts of people who weren't even making an effort to look. An album I searched high and lois for and paid $125 to buy suddenly was in surplus on various online sellers and the price dropped precipitously. No one needed to snap it up because there would always be more available. Scarcity was gone (at least relatively so) and there was no more fear that "once it's gone, it's gone."

The internet continued to mess with our minds and eventually, the mass consciousness slowly drifted from an socio-economy based on owning to one based on having access. In the same way, we put less value on our ability to do certain things because we had access to the end result without the effort (think calculators and navigation systems).

In the olden days, we had to trade software. Now we can download it from a central server or just use the on line version of it. We used to buy music. Now we can listen to most any song at any time. The value of ownership has sunk but we invest in access, through our hardware and our subscriptions.

So no one values books. "I can read it online" they say.

So no one values vinyl. "I can listen online" they say.

Unless one still has that unique ownership fetish, or one is afraid of the global blackout which will throw us all back to the stone age, the age of the collectible is dead. Yes, a small group will still pay top dollar for that mint Pokemon card, certified and encased in Carbonite, but the casual collector who was more interested in the product than the label of "owner" will not see the value of getting. He or she can "get" the end result whenever the mood strikes.

This is, by the way, why, when I travel, I only go to certain places. If I want to see history, I can look at images online, or even walk in a virtual environment and interact. But I don't have to go anywhere unless it has the promise of lots of food. Because the internet can't feed me. I can order food but I still have to eat it.

Now we are firmly entrenched in an access-based culture, valuing what we can get to, not worrying about the possibility of not getting to. We can be minimalists in our homes (our photo albums are online, we watch TV through our phones, we write note by texting etc).

I still collect coins, though. So there.