I picked up my Kindle during this vacation. Browsing through the Kindle library for unread and partly read books, I downloaded a few that I must read. And then it just dawned on me. My Kindle library is just some images of books I own, or I have the right to read. I download it only when I need to read, to consume. What if I could own other things in the similar way? What if I could digital own things and consume on demand, and possibly store the rights back digitally, for future consumption or resell or trade?

A while back, this is what Digital Rights Management attempted to solve - to manage the rights to content, software and services digitally. It ended up in a fragmented ecosystem - so you are either in Amazon, Apple, Google, or another ecosystem which are not interoperable. Comparing it to music CDs, it was like buying a music CD which could be played only on a specific brand of CD players. There was a time when we bought songs and albums from iTunes - the rights to listen individual songs or albums. Then there was Rhapsody, Zune, and Amazon. It was a frustrating experience, until it became music subscriptions with rights to listen to any song, and own none. This is a different business model, like rentals or in today’s terms music-as-a-service!

The “As-A-Service” model is very popular these days - from music, books, software, cloud, cars, hotels, meals, house cleaning, cosmetics, grooming, to anything under the sun a start-up founder could imagine. This model has an inherent deficiency. It provides you the rights to use, not the rights to own, not the rights to trade. In other words, “As-A-Service” model is intended for consumption, not ownership. This works well when you can digitally distribute products or for products that can be shared or reused or fully consumed.

I close my eyes, and imagine a not-so-distant future, where we would be able to own things digitally, consumed on demand, and store or recycled for future consumption. Imagine a store in metaverse, a metaverse which is interoperable through commonly understood, or agreed, or translatable protocols. On a typical day, I walk to my metaverse console, lie comfortably, identify myself and enter into metaverse. After a day’s work, I take a walk around the fashion world in the metaverse. I spot a newly-released shoe in limited quantities. The virtual reality and multi-sensory experience help to feel the fit and finish of the shoe. I like it. And I buy, to own digitally, and an NFT is issued in my id. It just added to my collection of twenty other shoes, which is a carefully curated theme that matches my personal brand and hobby.

Months later, I am attending an in-person event of hobbyists. I need to wear those shoes that I own, monogrammed, to my exact size and fit - 27.1828. I walk into the local shoe store, in physical world of course. I present my NFT and scan my feet. I could do this online, but it is fun to get out once in a while! The weaver/printer machine in the center of the store prepares my shoes in 10 minutes. While waiting, I login to the console and review upcoming trends, designs, and releases. The machine completes the finishing touches and monogramming. It then burns the NFT and presents the shoes. I check the fit, and as always, it is accurate. I could return it an redeem the NFT if I wanted to, but this is good.

After the event, I keep the shoes on the rack for a while. It is a statement, a piece of art, and an object of utility - well not very often. So, I send it the shoe store. They would convert it back to an NFT and recycle the material for a fee. I would rather own it digitally, and I can display it in my collection in the metaverse. In a few minutes, the drone picks up the shoes and I have it back in my collection as an NFT.

The fashion season is over. But I got lucky. The style was popular in the A602214076 community. I would rather sell it and get another one. I publish it for sale and got quite a few offers. I preferred to sell it to a collector than a trader. You know these traders; they use their smart contracts and keep the shoes in escrow until it is sold again. They could sell it across many communities, find better profit, while keeping their name out of the shoes’ history.

I open my eyes and look at the Kindle. It has gone to sleep. I let it sleep and grab a paperback from the shelf. I smell the book. A bit moldy, but it smells like a book!