【Film noir Archives】

The Film noir Archivessharing 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?

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.

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.

The service, GanPai Basketball Sharing, even allows users to digitally transfer the rights to use the basketball to another person, by keying in the serial number on the basketball. If you happen to chance upon a missing GanPai basketball, you'll get a small cash reward credited into your WeChat, too.

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.

NaLaXiuZhu: "After bicycle-sharing, umbrella-sharing, here comes basketball-sharing...we are marching towards a communist society! Scan a QR code to share anything!"

JerryMaChuan: "Bike-sharing, power bank-sharing, basketball-sharing...can I share in your wealth while you share in my woes?"

"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.