We don't own anything in this age of subscriptions

On the 14th of December, I got into the kitchen in the morning, put the pan on the induction stove, and said, 'Hey Siri, play Gayatri Mantra'. Siri replied, 'Sorry I could not find anything on Apple Music.'

I was miffed. But it happens sometimes. Siri is a bit iffy. But Siri had been working fine since quite a bit. So I was a bit miffed, but continued my cooking. Breakfast was getting into brunch times, and I was hungry.

Next day, I tried again. And got the same reply. This time, I had time, so I picked up my phone and opened Apple Music. To my surprise, Apple Music showed that I needed to subscribe to listen to my music. My music.

I had Youtube premium. So I dowloaded Youtube music and played music there. I did not like the Youtube Music UI. I am not judging it. I am not saying it has a bad UI. I am accustomed to the Apple Music UI. I was miffed.

I had this weird feeling in the back of my mind. My music. Where did my music go? This thing happened, I don't know how, and suddenly all the songs and albums and music I had added to my library was all gone.

I did not have anything. I am a tenant. As long as I am a paying customer I have access to stuff. If I stop paying, I don't have anything. This is not unique to Apple of course. The same thing exists for example on PS5 as well, where any games that I add from PS Plus are not really mine.

It is a weird thing. Paying for something, but not owning it. One could argue that that is the case with our phones too. That Apple or Samsung, whatever, owns the device, and they lend it to you for three four years. You can't do anything you want to with it. It is not really yours. It's on lease.

In this age of subscriptions everywhere, we do not own anything. Most of the times, things work as they should and we do not notice this fact. But the fact remains, whether we notice it or not.

Eventually, I talked to Apple support and got the issue rectified. Somehow, the subscription got cancelled. The remaining money was refunded to my account. I tried using Youtube Music for another day before I subscribed to Apple Music again.

For a little time there, my library was empty, while Apple Music was syncing. I was scared. Would I have to recreate my library?

It did finish the sync process though. I got my library back.

And so I asked, 'Hey Siri, play Gayatri Mantra.'