A man on TikTok shared a landing page on the HP website, and viewers shared his concerns about the situation.
TikTok user withakmedia went viral with 181,000 views within three days of a video outlining new plans by HP to get users to subscribe to their laptops.
“They don’t want us to own computers,” the user said.
“That’s going to be the next thing to be subscription-based.”
The user referenced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos‘ comments in 2024, saying that eventually everyone would need to rent computing power from Amazon. Bezos referenced a brewery that had its own generator, rather than being hooked to a power grid.
“At the time, that’s what everyone did. If a hotel wanted electricity, they had their own electric generator,” Bezos said.
data”I looked at this, and I thought, this is what computation is like today; everyone has their own data center.”
“That’s not going to last. It makes no sense. You’re going to buy compute off the grid. That’s [Amazon Web Services].”
Withakmedia, however, sees it differently.
“They can’t endlessly profit off you if you make a one-time purchase,” he noted.
Subscription Models
Computer subscriptions come in a number of different forms.
One example highlighted by Tech Times is a third-party “MacBook Upgrade Program” launched by a company called Upgraded, which allows users to access Apple laptops through a monthly fee instead of a large upfront purchase.
The program starts at about $33 a month for a base MacBook Air and runs over a multi-year term, with AppleCare+ included and an option to swap to a newer model after a set number of payments, as long as the old device is returned.
The pitch mirrors smartphone upgrade plans: lower initial cost, predictable monthly billing and regular access to newer hardware, even though users ultimately pay over a longer period and may never truly “own” the device unless they complete the full term.
HP is experimenting with a similar idea, but the reaction has been far more skeptical.
HP’s subscription laptops bundle high-end business machines with extras like support services and connectivity, but critics argue the pricing is inflated compared to buying the same hardware outright or using traditional financing.
Forum users repeatedly raised concerns about losing ownership, the possibility of remote lockouts if payments stop, and the broader trend of shifting consumer electronics from one-time purchases to ongoing obligations.
‘This is just feudalism’
Critics on Reddit’s r/computing forum were as horrified by the concept as withakmedia.
“If access can be revoked at any moment, can you really say you own anything anymore,” the original poster on one popular thread asked.
“This is just feudalism, but with ‘compute’ as the means of production instead of land,” another added.
“The whole idea is that you’re beholden to your lord (who owns all of the compute, or land in the medieval era) for the means to survive.”
A fellow individual, however, wasn’t concerned: “This isn’t something that’s going to happen. Too many people value their right to privacy and its an entitlement.
“We don’t want some corporation, no matter whom it is. Holding all of our files. Screw them for trying to force us to outsource our lives to their police state. We know the importance of keeping our entire lives at home still.”
Newsweek has reached out to withakmedia for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.