A Future Without Belongings

Technology Designer Orit Dolev gave a talk about cherishing experiences over material items and examines the importance of services in a nomadic world where citizens can work from anywhere, so long as they have access to the internet. She discusses the shift in consumer behavior, where we are valuing digital services more than physical products. She elaborates with the example of Uber: a technology company that was able to replace the need for purchasing a car by providing a service. She argues that as technology advances to be implemented in most of our everyday objects, they will become a tradable service that can be swapped, traded, and used in the same way we use digital media.

She asks us to consider what life would look like without belongings or commodities, only serves or experiences. Citizens could live a complex with everything needed to live, work, and play with around the clock services. To get food, we would subscribe to a food service that sends fresh food from a farmer nearby that has been curated for you. To get dressed, a drone would deliver a new outfit straight to your door and at the end of the day, they are picked up and cleaned for others to use. Jewelry and shoes can be 3d printed for a specific event where they can be recycled into their original state. Even furniture, baby equipment, and toys can be accessed through a subscription-based service. In this new world, we would no longer need personal cars and parking lots would be transformed into green, communal spaces.

As our family situations change, we can easily rent another place that's more conducive to our needs. Even traveling is easy and light, we can show up and have all our items be ready for us to borrow at the new location. "Things will be there exactly when we need them and be gone when we don't," making travel and experiences easier than even and valued above items. Orti concludes by asking audiences if we should own less to be able to do more.