Translator: Thomas Tam Reviewer: Zsófia Herczeg
Imagine a world where the richer you are,
the less you own.
A world where a fancy car,
a large house
and expensive clothes
cease to be a status symbol and become a burden,
while experiences replace belongings as what we cherish the most.
Is it possible to own nothing but have everything?
In the past, if your house was on fire and everyone was safe,
what was the one thing you would want to save?
Photo albums, right?
Today, most of us have our photos safe and sound in the cloud.
Our music, books, movies all turned from physical objects to digital services.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Every year, I own less of what I use.
I remember my 17th birthday.
I was so excited to finally get my driver's license.
It was a big deal to drive a car,
not to mention buy one -
compare prices, research fuel efficiency,
deliberate about the color and design.
Once having a car, you need to insure it,
fix it now and then, remember to fuel it,
spend long hours searching for parking.
Oh, yeah,
and wash it from time to time.
After all that, why would you even want to own a car
when what you really need is to get from point A to B?
Today, I can summon a car anytime, anywhere.
It appears within minutes, takes me wherever I need to go.
And then disappears,
like magic.
In many ways, that is a better arrangement than having to own a car.
What used to be a car is transforming into a riding service.
Someday soon, personal cars may be banned in cities,
replaced with an autonomous vehicle service.
As a technology product designer, I've started to notice this shift
from physical products to digital services.
I believe that as objects become smarter,
infused with bits of intelligence and technology,
they will transform into services
swapped, shared, used
in the same social way we swap digital media.
Will our houses become services too?
In the past, newlyweds would go ahead and buy a house,
secure a mortgage, compare real estate, buy a ton of furniture,
and spend long hours on upkeep and renovation once in a while.
Why make all these commitments?
Life is full of surprises, especially these days.
Over the past few years,
I have lived and traveled to more than 30 countries
across five continents.
With a supercomputer in my pocket
and widespread connectivity,
I don't need an office.
I can work from anywhere.
Travel has become a way of living,
serving as fertile ground for a new generation of nomads.
And that's when owning stuff really becomes a burden.
Services are more important than ever.
We've all experienced at some point the joys of service:
gyms, barber shops,
restaurants, cleaning services.
Whatever it was for you,
I bet that among other things, this gave you a little more freedom,
a little more time and peace of mind.
Then why stop there?
Imagine a world where all the physical products around us
transform into digital services.
How would life look like with no belongings, no commodities,
no wallet, no assets or property?
A world were the only things you can buy are services and experiences.
Let me take you to a day in a life in this kind of future.
I live in a complex,
a place with everything I need to live, work and play.
Like a lot of my friends, I prefer the co-living housing
because of the round-the-clock services they offer.
Once in a while, I might choose to cook for myself.
I subscribe to a food service
that sends me fresh ingredients from a farmer nearby,
carefully selected based on my culinary preferences.
I'm thinking about upgrading
to the premium organic service everybody's talking about,
cooked by a famous robot chef.
I subscribe to most of my clothes.
Every morning, they arrive at my window port with a drone.
I can wear something different each day of the year if I want.
At the end of the day, I'll drop them to be picked up by the drone.
I 3D-print my jewelry.
Actually, this is something I already do.
If I have a special occasion, I might 3D-print a dress
designed especially for me,
and custom shoes based on a scan of my feet.
Once the event is over, I'll simply drop them in the recycling bin.
The material will be recycled into its original state.
My apartment has no closets, no washing machine or dishwasher.
I don't need to worry about mortgage, maintenance
or even renovation once in a while
because furniture and decor became services too.
Once we have kids,
we'll probably subscribe to a baby equipment and toy service.
Every couple weeks, the toys will be swapped,
and we will receive fresh ones, sterilized, of course,
based on my kids' age and preferences.
My home will transform as my needs change -
when I move from city to city or as my family expands.
I can stay for a year, for a month, or even just a few days.
When I travel, I don't need to pack anything.
The things I normally use will be waiting for me wherever I land.
This new world might raise some concerns,
such as
how will it feel like not owning anything at all?
Will that make me homeless?
Will we lose the emotional connections we have with objects today?
Questions about friendship and relationships:
What will our social life look like?
How will we raise our kids? And what will it feel like growing old?
On the other hand,
maybe this is actually an opportunity to redesign our crowded cities,
replacing parking lots and large isolated housing
with green parks and shared communal spaces,
freeing up time to pick up a new hobby or spend it with loved ones
instead of wasting it on chores.
Maybe this is an opportunity to update our thousand-year-old education system.
Imagine education being personalized
to the way each and every one of us learns best.
And why commit to one specific school and location?
A classroom might become an ongoing field trip
with kids from all over the world.
They'll probably learn much more than I'll ever know.
How will we stay in touch if we're moving around all the time?
Maybe we'll hang out using a mixed reality service.
Soon, we will all have genie superpowers.
Things will be there exactly when we need them and gone when we don't.
They will be accessible, affordable and shareable,
providing higher quality
and personalized experiences tailored especially for me.
So when you go home, and you walk through your front door,
take a second and ask yourself,
"Could I own a little less?
Would that give me a little more freedom, a little more time and peace of mind?"
Some may ask
whether I might feel untethered by not owning anything at all.
I tell them I feel the opposite.
I feel a deep connection to our ancestors,
like a primeval nomad who owns nothing,
curious, adaptive, ready to hit the road and explore the unknown,
making room for collecting experiences rather than things,
Own less,
but have much more.
(Cheering) (Applause)