VR, AR, 3D printers - basically anything at the cutting edge of the tech experience would be a good candidate. I can't justify spending $1,000 on a VR rig. But I don't mind paying a few dollars every month just to try the thing out.
see pretty much every point in the original comment but specific bad tech habit use.
If you're not really sure you need this stuff then you don't need it. Plain and simple.
If you don't have the disposable cash to pay for it outright then you can't afford it anyway.
With that all said you can try out the three examples you cite at your local Best Buy, Microsoft Store, Maker Space, Home Depot, etc etc.
If the argument is that you're in rural Idaho without access to this stuff then the business model is broken.
This is not true at all. Often times people want to try out a new tool or process and are unsure of how it will actually perform. And it will take awhile -- not a couple of hours.
> and are unsure of how it will actually perform
I'm sorry, this is argument (and I hate to be hyperbolic on HN) is simply laughable from both how consumers actually make purchase decisions on the whole and also from a business model.
"I'm not sure if a 3D printed part will work if I wanted a custom cell phone holder for my car?"
2 seconds later, looks like it can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgbxgz5S2dc
Modern consumers have grown accustomed to leveraging collective knowledge shared on various internet sources. They watch youtube reviews, read trusted review sites, take online courses.
For example, within a few minutes you can ascertain the pros and cons of the various VR headsets available on the market. You can understand the limitations of the tech in general. All without having to rent the equipment.
Then, in my experience, after having performed research they go try the tech out or just purchase it outright.
"But I only want to print a few things out" Then you just paid how much in rent for what you could get for a fraction off the shelf?
For example, within a few minutes you can ascertain the pros and cons of the various VR headsets available on the market. You can understand the limitations of the tech in general. All without having to rent the equipment.
To be fair - businesses know this is true and thus as the internet as grown, all of those avenues have been wrought with fake / illegitimate / disingenuous claims...hence why there is a "I need to see/feel it myself to believe it's true".
> both how consumers actually make purchase decisions
Let's play fair then - source?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2009-10-15/amazon-tu...
Goodbye software demos
You're conflating people who can't afford it with people who can afford it, but aren't certain that they want to buy it.
I think it might be valid to say that if you can't afford to buy it outright then you shouldn't lease it.
I can afford a VR headset, but what if I'm not sure which headset I would prefer for long term use?
> With that all said you can try out the three examples you cite at your local Best Buy, Microsoft Store, Maker Space, Home Depot, etc etc.
This is not the same thing as trialling something for hours/days in the comfort of your own space.
Also, what if I know I will only need an expensive item for 3 months?
Can you give an example?
Media production gear for an art show
Hardware to demonstrate a proof of concept for a startup
Using a 3D printer to prototype basic hardware at a company that doesn't expect to have more hardware products in the near future
Renting multiple VR/AR headsets for an extended customer demo
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It might be worth mentioning that I'm one of the founders of EquipmentShare, which is sort of similar but in the construction industry, so this type of business only seems natural to me. In our industry, the more variability in the equipment requirements of your jobs, the more difficult it is to be efficient with your capital. In construction nobody owns _all_ of the equipment they use; it would require far too much capital, and a large chunk of your fleet would sit idle most of the time. It's far more efficient to have a blend of owning and renting.
The 3D printing can be contracted out. Consumer grade 3d printers wouldn't be a wise investment in that case.
You're doing business in VR/AR development. If you are going to be anything over a one-man operation, youshouldalready have multiple VR/AR sets for development and testing purposes.
I appreciate the candidates, and can better appreciatewhere you are coming from. In construction, however, you have already transcended the "consumer grade" level of investment. You're now dealing with industrial grade equipment which is a completely different ballgame.
Several of your examples somewhat contradict the stated intention of the company from my understanding. They were looking to break into the market for consumer grade cutting edge tech, NOT for primarily business level customers.
The article paints a picture of a company not looking at other companies as customers, but the general public.
If they intend to focus on the Enterprise level, your arguments make sense. Not so much for private customers. The niche they are trying to fill is a symptom of a lopsided economy, not a healthy one.
You may want to rent a drone for a holiday.
You may want to rent an Apple watch to find out if its something for you.
You may want to rent a projector for the world cup to watch games with your friends.
You may want to rent a Nintendo Switch just to play Mario Odyssey for a month.
I have access to laser etching machines that cost $50k, 3D printers, metal fabrication shops, woodshops, all sorts of cool makerspaces, and my local library has a full blown virtual simulation centers / audio recording studio / photography studio / circuit labs. I didn't even know half this stuff was openly available to me until 2 months ago
Furthermore, things like 3d printers suffer from "tool markup" the idea being that if you're just looking to make a thing or two, find someone else who has them and try theirs out to see if it works for your use case.
Virtual Reality hasn't really caught on in the non-industrial sense so as to have a large impact in the everyday life of a person. It can be invaluable for information rich design and analysis, and simulation purposes as well as entertainment, but the adoption is still in the nascent phase, likely held back by the price of the equipment itself, and limited talent pool. Could renting solve that by getting it in front of more people? Absolutely. In the same way giving out free samples of Cocaine/heroin to first time customers can. More advanced and efficient manufacturing of hardware, and increases in the flexibility and software utilized by the platform are the key to increasing uptake.
It may look good on the surface, but if you dig down deeper, it only seems a good model in the light of artificially suppressed wage growth decreasing the buying and ownership power of a majority of consumers.
If you want to make money off of expensive things, convince the market to pay people more. Don't rent seek.
Now if we were talking Lab or advanced scientific equipment, I could see the potential. This company, however, wants to focus on consumer grade tech which is already nearing ubiquity in the market (iDevice, insert chiq brand here). You aren't doing anything but changing the tech purchase from a 1 time investment in a tool to increase productivity into a recurring revenue stream.