In an article I recently read, Eliza Kern stated that most 20-somethings nowadays are reluctant to pay for things online, such as Netflix and online newspapers. This is because they can get the content through friends’ and parents’ subscriptions. The more I thought about this, the more I realized it was true. There are quite a few people that use my Netflix account and everyone in my family uses the same Hulu Plus account. My mother cancelled our DirecTV because we watch everything online. And not many of my friends pay for online newspapers because we can find the same content for free elsewhere.
So, what does that mean for the future? When my generation becomes real adults, will our online habits change the internet? I know that business have to make money, therefore things will have to be bought and paid for, but what else will change?
College students, and college-aged kids, don’t like paying for things because we’re mostly poor. However, once we get jobs and start our careers and get to the point where we CAN pay for things, will we want to? I doubt it. We may pay for the things we want, but if we don’t feel the need then it probably won’t happen.
And what about the next generation? The one that’s never waited for dial-up, heard the phrase “You’ve got mail” in person, or had the satisfying experience of slamming the land line down in anger. These kids have been surrounded by smart phones and wireless internet since day one. Will they want to pay for anything? Probably not. This leads me to wonder what’s going to happen in the next 20-40 years.
