Subscription fatigue doesn't mean there's a bubble, nor that anyone is predicting that it's about to burst. It's not a housing market, it's not a basic need, nor is there unlimited demand and limited supply. Subscription services have the exact opposite problem.
Yes, subscription is an old model. Getting a newspaper delivered every day was a subscription service, magazines were heavily into the annual subscription market. Only people who aren't thinking have suggested that subscriptions are some exotic new model, based on nothing more than the content being digital.
More important is the idea that the written word is special as far as subscriptions go, omitting a whole world of contemporary subscription services that contribute to actual subscription fatigue.
TV streaming, music streaming, mobile devices, internet access, online legacy news and magazines, of course, special interest or hobby subscriptions, upgraded YouTube access, software subscriptions, then start adding in individual newsletters, like Substack.
That might add up to 20 or more subscriptions, most of which are discretionary spending.
There's a real cumulative dollar cost, and a real cumulative time cost, and both have associated opportunity costs.
Of course people who have the disposable income and the time to consume will subscribe to more content, it's a trite argument Those people will also buy more cheese or shoes. And, the point is?
Even the well off don't keep consuming more of the same thing, this is economics 101. There's a point beyond which they move their disposal income to other things.
These days, people place a higher premium on experiences, for example.
Or maybe they're looking at their bank account and realizing that their annual subscriptions add up to thousands of dollars, and contemplating which of those discretionary spends they can forego without noticing any loss of life enjoyment, and gaining time that could be used in more fulfilling ways, at nil cost.
My thoughts exactly.
1. Subscriptions aren't a new thing
2. Those talking about 'subscription fatigue' were five years ago 'subscription deniers.'
3. People will pay for things they value.
Great piece. Cheers!
Subscription fatigue doesn't mean there's a bubble, nor that anyone is predicting that it's about to burst. It's not a housing market, it's not a basic need, nor is there unlimited demand and limited supply. Subscription services have the exact opposite problem.
Yes, subscription is an old model. Getting a newspaper delivered every day was a subscription service, magazines were heavily into the annual subscription market. Only people who aren't thinking have suggested that subscriptions are some exotic new model, based on nothing more than the content being digital.
More important is the idea that the written word is special as far as subscriptions go, omitting a whole world of contemporary subscription services that contribute to actual subscription fatigue.
TV streaming, music streaming, mobile devices, internet access, online legacy news and magazines, of course, special interest or hobby subscriptions, upgraded YouTube access, software subscriptions, then start adding in individual newsletters, like Substack.
That might add up to 20 or more subscriptions, most of which are discretionary spending.
There's a real cumulative dollar cost, and a real cumulative time cost, and both have associated opportunity costs.
Of course people who have the disposable income and the time to consume will subscribe to more content, it's a trite argument Those people will also buy more cheese or shoes. And, the point is?
Even the well off don't keep consuming more of the same thing, this is economics 101. There's a point beyond which they move their disposal income to other things.
These days, people place a higher premium on experiences, for example.
Or maybe they're looking at their bank account and realizing that their annual subscriptions add up to thousands of dollars, and contemplating which of those discretionary spends they can forego without noticing any loss of life enjoyment, and gaining time that could be used in more fulfilling ways, at nil cost.
We'll see...