这封信的作者是the Kent School in Conn.17 岁的Michael Shin，她是学生公开信大赛的前 10 名获胜者之一，我们收到了 9,946 份参赛作品。
Dear Subscription Services Users,
By the time you read this letter, it might be locked behind a $5 monthly paywall. But let’s face it — you’ll probably pay for it anyway.
My crusade against the subscription apocalypse started with an HP printer demanding $1.50 monthly for ink cartridges. (Yes, my printer now has a protection racket.) Now, car companies want monthly fees for heated seats and automatic garage doors. Welcome to 2025, where keeping your posterior warm costs $20 a month. What’s next — a subscription to use your refrigerator’s ice maker? A monthly fee to unlock your microwave’s popcorn button?
The subscription tsunami is already here. In 2020, more American households had Amazon Prime than owned pets or decorated Christmas trees. From movies to news articles, monthly memberships have colonized the internet faster than cat videos. Between 2018 and 2021, average subscription spending per U.S. consumer surged from $237 to $273. This trend shows no signs of slowing down, as companies realize they can slice and dice their services into bite-sized monthly payments.
Sure, subscription services once seemed like economic heroes. Streaming services swooped in like caped crusaders, fighting internet piracy and delivering thousands of shows through one platform. Companies got steady revenue streams, and we got entertainment buffets. But like any all-you-can-eat buffet, we’re now paying for far more than we actually consume.
Speaking of buffets — I tallied my monthly subscriptions: $215 a month for Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Crunchyroll, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube Premium, Spotify, Adobe, and Splice. (I even relied on an NYT membership to write this letter — oh, the irony.) These forgotten subscriptions silently raid my wallet like ninjas in the night, each one small enough to escape notice, but together forming an army of monetary drain.
Today’s streaming platforms are like identical quintuplets wearing different outfits — same content, different logos. Yet we keep paying for multiple platforms to watch a handful of exclusive shows. They make cancellation harder than solving a Rubik’s cube blindfolded, ensuring monthly payments stack up like pancakes at a breakfast buffet. Most subscriptions get less use than that exercise equipment gathering dust in your garage. Studies reveal the average U.S. consumer underestimates their monthly payment by up to $100, proving how effectively these companies have mastered the art of invisible billing.
The subscription revolution isn’t coming — it’s here, replacing ownership with eternal rentals. Each purchase increasingly comes with strings attached, turning consumers into perpetual renters of products they once owned outright. Time to audit your digital expenses like a forensic accountant. Hunt down those forgotten subscriptions lurking in your credit card statements. Cancel redundant services faster than you can say “monthly fee.” This isn’t about penny-pinching — it’s about outsmarting corporate strategies designed to pick your pocket one subscription at a time.
Sincerely,
Michael Shin
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Works Cited
Moses, Claire. What Your Favorite Streaming Services Will Cost You in 2024. The New York Times, 29 Dec. 2023.
O’Brien, Sarah. ‘It’s a Slippery Slope’: Most Consumers Underestimate Monthly Subscription Costs By at Least $100, Study Says. CNBC, 6 Sept. 2022.
Robinson, Cheryl. Subscription Service Model: How to Build a Profitable Business.” Forbes, 9 March 2024.
There Are Now More Amazon Prime Memberships than Christmas Trees, Household Pets, Voters, Landlines and Gun Owners.” Fosdick Fufillment, 2 Aug. 2020.
Tucker, Sean. BMW Quietly Launches In-Car Subscriptions in U.S. Kelley Blue Book, 3 Jan. 2023.