We can hope for a future where the "recurring revenue" model melts down. There's two sorts of it, as I see it, and both of them do have weak spots: * Turning

We can hope for a future where the "recurring revenue" model melts down. There's two sorts of it, as I see it, and both of them do have weak spots: * Turning everything into a data vaccuum to sell to marketers. Something like the GDPR but angrier could pop that balloon pretty decisively, as could shifts in marketing trends if advertisers start considering tracking critically as a cost centre, rather than the current FOMO snowball. * Unbundle bits and pieces of the experience to sell back to you on a subscription. This still feels like the data's not in yet for a lot of products. I suspect we see it being trialed a lot with cars because so many of them are leased and therefore have a predictable trade-in life. As long as the annoying $10-per-month service comes with a three-year trial, the original lessee never needs to think about the subscription model, it more becomes an albatross to make the used car look less appealing by comparison. It's harder to pull that particular trick for other products, as their service lives vary widely. I suspect that, for example, many home appliances with a subscription would end up with a lot of angry and confused calls to support when the machine "stops working" at the end of a trial/missed payment/etc. Having to pay for that support burden and associated brand damage may unwind most of the profit the subscription yielded.