Subscription services exist for nearly everything consumers buy. Many, like Netflix or Spotify, start out affordable, but the cost adds up over time. And while signing up is effortless, canceling can be difficult. Companies such as Adobe and Amazon have even been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of using dark patterns to trap consumers in subscriptions.

But rising costs are only part of the problem. The subscription model is eroding consumers' opportunity to own what they buy.

So how did we get to the point where practically everything is a subscription? And why is owning nothing making everything so expensive?