more than this, the need to own anything is reduced. Imagine a service like Spotify greatly increased so you could find any artist, and with mobile devices, get access anywhere. Why do I need to own any of these tracks then? I can get them whenever I want, and isn't that the point of ownership, to have access under your control? Obviously there are some things you still need to own (clothes, cars, phones, etc), but if so many previously coveted items move to cloud services, what will the next generation cherish? I think the answer is evident already in where they spend their time - it's in their identity. This was one of the functions of owning these items in the first place after all. For the digital generation things that cannot be easily duplicated will be important - this will be the MySpace or Facebook page they have generated over a long time, the network they have created. These represent the 'things I'd save from a fire' in an online world. Comments Hey Martin, I agree with all this - but in addition to representing your identity these modern-day assets are cherished because they are also just really useful in your everyday life. I guess it comes down to what is irreplaceable these days - and it's not virtual objects themselves, but the record of their locations: bookmarks, addresses, file locations, contact info. If you don't know where they are, you have really lost them. ( Or at