With the advent of computer networking, a new kind of company has emerged that is exempt from the physical limits of the past. Underlying this emergence is what Scott Galloway calls the technological flywheel. Because computer networks are based on a server-side architecture, a single "storefront" can serve millions of people all over the world. Further through network effects, digital platforms appreciate rather than depreciate over time. As more people use a service, the service becomes more valuable and the company can scale its revenue exponentially. Today's technological companies have exploited this new landscape with two types of business models: the subscription-based model and the ad-based model.

In the ad-based model, the service is free, but you are the product. This creates a misaligned incentive structure that goes far beyond simply selling data. We humans have a special ability to meld with our tools and use them as extensions of ourselves. Conversely, however, we become extensions of those same tools. Our goals, purposes, and means to reach those goals all shift to those of the tool: "If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". In the context of these technology platforms, when we inhabit a space that constantly asks for our time, does everything in its power to keep us on the site, and operates on a push mechanism, constantly sending us notifications and updates, we adapt ourselves to this technology. We start tuning our preferences and goals to those of the platform. Our brain begins to crave those micro-doses of emotion: getting angry at what we are conditioned to get angry about, feeling sad when we are conditioned to feel sad, and experiencing joy exactly on cue. This change even affects the inventor of the service. They become so focused on solving a specific goal, like creating a profitable company, that they become blinded to the larger effect the technology has on them and the people using it.

This neuroplasticity, however, operates in both directions making it not necessarily simple, but possible to change our brains away from this model. The subscription-based model or the rundle (recurring revenue bundle) as Scott Galloway calls it operates in a different frame. By being centered as the customer, we dictate the terms of the relationship. This dynamic allows us to pull information from these resources on our own terms, rather than having algorithms push it upon us. We reduce the burden and constant nagging these companies have on our daily lives and use them as a useful extension of ourselves rather than being sold as a product. The service then has an incentive to be as useful and frictionless as possible, so you will keep paying your subscription. By being intentional with what types of companies we interact with and understanding how they change our sense of self and purpose, we are able to be intentional about what tools we want to use and how they change us.