We’ve heard a lot recently about how young people are not as interested in owning things. Polls show they are less interested in cars, driving, and less interest in owning stuff.

In this episode, Dave Pickering, our documentary podcaster, talked with Restart Party participants about different models for ownership and finance of gadgets, such as rental and leasing. There is a not-too-remote history of radio and TV rental here in the UK.

Would people really be interested in a return to product-as-service? Can we finance and use gadgets differently in future? From a user perspective, the answers are not entirely straight-forward.

And the economics and business models are not either. So we interviewed some industry insiders: UK policy advisers WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), Dutch indie manufacturer Fairphone, and London repair business Lovefone.

We can conclude that models for use and ownership will probably vary quite dramatically for different kinds of consumer electronics and appliances.

[Featured image “Radio Rentals (1955)” by Flickr user Bradford Timeline is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0]

The post Restart Podcast Ep 7: The past, present and future of gadget ownership appeared first on The Restart Project.