I cancelled an online streaming service recently. Well, I tried to. My first attempt failed to navigate the repeated offers and “are you sure?” prompts in the process. My recipe box comes much less often. I’ve cancelled one beauty subscription and downgraded another. I decided against kitchen roll deliveries because, really, do I need another one of these things? I have been repeatedly annoyed by the friction involved in managing the various subscriptions that are part of our daily lives.I am a walking economic stereotype, and one increasingly in the sights of global regulators. The “subscription economy” is heading into its first serious downturn. The rash of businesses offering consumers services or products on subscription took off in about 2011, led by TV and music streaming services and quickly followed by boxes of beauty products, clothes, organic coffee, craft beer, pet food and much more.
我最近取消了一個在線流媒體服務。我盡力了。我的第一次嘗試失敗了，過程中反復跳出來的特價和“你確定嗎？”提示讓我招架不住。我的食材料理包來的沒那么頻繁了。我取消了一份美妝訂閱服務，還降級了另一份。我決定不再訂購廚房紙巾送貨服務，因為，說真的，我還需要這個東西嗎？管理日常生活中各種訂閱的麻煩老是讓我心煩意亂。