【】Credit: Ng Yi Shu/Mashable
The sharing economy is the way of the millennial. You can share an apartment with someone else, summon a stranger in a car, and even grab a bicycle off a street with just an app. 。
But...basketballs?
But...basketballs?SEE ALSO:Shared bikes are so popular, they've squeezed humans out of this park 。
A company in Zhejiang, eastern China, has launched a basketball-sharing service it's sure will be a slam dunk. 。
The service, which debuted at a University there, allows users to have a basketball for 1.50 yuan ($0.22), in half hour blocks. 。
The service runs as a mini app in WeChat -- China's biggest messenger app. Users open a mini program from ZhuLeGeQiu (猪了个球) on WeChat, and scan a QR code, in order to unlock the chamber holding a basketball. 。(left) The lockers at Jiaxing University; (right) A splash screen for the ZhuLeGeQiu mini programCredit: Weibo/Mashable Composite 。
Payment is done by WeChat Wallet, which is already used widely in offline applications, like paying at retail stores, and splitting the bill at dinner. 。
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 。 Thanks for signing up! 。Already, GanPai seems to have taken off in the two weeks since the machine appeared on campus, company staff told。
Beijing Youth Daily。
. 。
The startup is expected to expand its basketball-sharing service to 23 other cities.
。People on Weibo are scratching their heads at the venture, however. 。
Credit: Ng Yi Shu/Mashable 。NaLaXiuZhu: "After bicycle-sharing, umbrella-sharing, here comes basketball-sharing...we are marching towards a communist society! Scan a QR code to share anything!" 。
Credit: Ng Yi Shu/Mashable 。JerryMaChuan: "Bike-sharing, power bank-sharing, basketball-sharing...can I share in your wealth while you share in my woes?"。
Credit: NG YI SHU/MASHABLE 。
"There's a lot of companies that just seem better when they fiddle with a few words -- this year's word has got to be 'sharing'," BoLeIsDead commented.。 "I think the internet has really pulled wool over our eyes -- bike-rental services with an app become bike-sharing, and now basketball-sharing. Well, if you do rentals for a living, just say it's 'sharing', and you can probably just convince another bunch of people." 。
CORRECTION: May 6, 2017, 2:29 p.m. SGT。
This story mistakenly referred to the app maker as Gan Pai Gong Xiang Lan Qiu (Gan Pai Basketball-Sharing). It is ZhuLeGeQiu. This has been reflected in the text. 。
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