To have or not to have

Now that Netflix has finally arrived in the Netherlands, lots of newspaper commentators are going on and on about the 'new society'  in which people no longer want to have certain things, they just want to have access to these things. They no longer want a rack full of CDs, they'll just listen to their music on Spotify. They no longer want row upon row of DVDs, they'll just watch whatever they feel like on services like Netflix. They no longer need a bookcase full of books, they'll just have one eReader/Kindle with thousands of copies, with more ready to be downloaded online. Homes will be come empty spaces, filled only with the devices needed to access the outside world.
I think this is true to a certain extend, namely the extend of the young and hasty, who do not have time to go out and buy books or other objects, but do want to have them ready and waiting at those sparse moments they actually have time to read a book/watch a film/etc. And as it is the young and hip we hear most about in the media today, this makes it seem as if everybody is living this way.
But there is one important factor that these enthusiastic article writers are forgetting: people who will just order a film on Netflix could just as easily have bought it. To them, there is no difference. They have enough money and means to buy both the object itself or access to that object. To those people who do not have the money to buy these things, the actual posession is still very important. When they loose access to Netflix when they are not able to pay their fees, they still want to have that DVD laying around. They need the security of knowing these things won't go away when the money tides turn against them.
Not needing to own things is a new way of saying; I am able to buy all these things, but I'm not, because I don't have to. In that way, it's falls in the same category as so many expressions of wealth and 'better than thou' actions over the centuries.
Moreover, all those young and hip people not buying books and films are the same young and hip queueing for the new iPhone or GTA V coming out. So the 'access is enough' thing only goes so far.
Finally, there are of course still many people who do want to own a certain novel, LP, or DVD, for whatever romantic reason (not wanting to live behind a screen the whole day is a good one for me). Only its those romantic 'lagging behind'  types that you don't often read about in the media. Which does not mean they don't exist. Even stronger, I'd say most people belong to this latter category. And the fact that you're not reading about them all day is another clue that those 'not owners' are in it partly to show off their ability of not-possession. We don't need to tell everyone how well off we are not owning things: we'll just keep quiet about the stuff we (can) have.