Forced to share

This difference in attitude to technology is further fuelling the digital divide. A process that is exaggerated not just by users being younger, but the services being designed by and aimed at younger people too. It's a generation saddled with University debts, for whom buying a house or even a car is unaffordable and paying for further debt makes too big an impact on social life, which is still more important. The natural solution is to borrow services from others when you need it. Moreover, it's another way of meeting other likeminded people.

Sociologists are suggesting that attitudes to ownership are changing in the young. That having a flash car is less appealing and less of a status symbol than having, access to and knowledge of, the latest technology. Especially if using it shows how savvy, adventurous and confident you are.

Sharing the backlash

The sharing economy might seem like a perfect antidote to environmental and economic difficulties, but it’s not without its problems and its critics. Velib had at least 3,000 bicycles stolen in the first year of operation, and by August 2009, 80% of the total bikes introduced into service had been replaced due to vandalism or theft. Stolen Vélib bicycles turned up in shipping containers destined for North Africa, and in cities as far away as Brașov and Bucharest, Romania. Vandalized cycles were sometimes thrown in the Seine River, or hung from lampposts.

Sociologist Bruno Marzloff interpreted the vandalism rate as a symptom of revolt against French society by the suburban and urban poor, especially immigrant youth resentful of what they perceive as a privileged, urban, middle class that are seen as the principal users of the Vélib system. He described Vélib vandalism as in part "a form of rebellion" against social exclusion.

Most famous are the campaigns against Uber by taxi hailing companies around the world. Uber is currently involved in at least 173 lawsuits and is banned in several cities, usually on the grounds of safety, but the main concern is about unfair competition. The Chinese government too has moved to protect licensed taxis by imposing rules on Didi drivers that they and their car must be registered in the city they operate in.

Similar concerns are being raised about Airbnb. In many cities, authorities claim it threatens the hotel business and takes affordable housing out of a market. In New York, its largest market, the city is cracking down on, illegal renting of property by commercial players, advertising multiple units. It’s the same in Amsterdam, London, Berlin and San Francisco, who have recently put limits to the number of days in a year a home can be rented.