The theory is simple: instead of buying a household item or a piece of clothing or some equipment you might use once or twice, you take it out and return it.

  • HobbitFoot
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    2 months ago

    Not exactly. The type of rental discussed in the article is short term, not long term like an apartment.

    Also, there will probably be a response in the industry, but it could end up being better overall. For instance, an appliance may end up being designed more for repair and have a longer design lifespan as there are fewer, but more educated, consumers of the appliances. I would expect a steam cleaner that has to run two times a week to be more expensive than one that has to run two times a year.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      Also, there will probably be a response in the industry,

      I dunno. There have been tool rental places with pro level tools for a very long time, and the tool manufacturers don’t seem to have reacted to stop it.

      • HobbitFoot
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        2 months ago

        I didn’t say tool makers would stop it.

        But there is a difference in design philosophy between pro tools and amateur tools. I would expect that, if the market shifts to more kinds of tools, the design of those tools will shift as well.