This is compounded by the fact that consumer electronics are becoming less useful as general computing devices. Increasingly people "rent" their primary devices

This is compounded by the fact that consumer electronics are becoming less useful as general computing devices. Increasingly people "rent" their primary devices. You pay a monthly plan, or a fee upfront, to use a gated smartphone that does very little in comparison to its ability on paper. So in summary: - You do not own media (music, movies, books to some extent). - You do not own the device (in the sense that you can readily program it). - You may not repair the devices you use. - They are all listening to you.