Sharing is a phenomenon as old as humankind,while collaborative consumption and the “sharing economy” are
phenomena born of the Internet age. This paper compares sharing and collaborative consumption and finds that
both are growing in popularity today. Examples are given and an assessment ismade of the reasons for the current
growth in these practices and their implications for businesses still using traditional models of sales and
ownership. The old wisdom that we are what we own, may need modifying to consider forms of possession
and uses that do not involve ownership