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Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#301

Post by khiqxj »

crazygringo wrote: post #40

Not really, because I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version -- the ownership model of software can be awfully feast-or-famine for developers' income, it's a very tough/risky business model. Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the compa…

> Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the company has a sustainable business model.

software was (marginally) better before than now. congratulations, you fell for their trick

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#303

Post by strix_varius »

correct-me-plz wrote: post #64
solardev wrote: post #47

I actually prefer the subscription model for my software, if the monthly price is reasonable. It gives me faith that they can actually sustain their business and pay their employees to maintain and improve the service over time. I hate the other model, where with Windows and Office you end up getting useless forced upgrades and terrible makeovers because they need that upgrade revenue every few years. Or the ad drive…

You could consider https://kagi.com/ for a subscription-based, ad-free search. I've been using it for a few months and haven't had a case where the Google results were superior.

I tried Kagi for a couple of weeks and the results were painfully inferior to Google's. I was really hoping they'd be good.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#304

Post by pdntspa »

crazygringo wrote: post #40

Not really, because I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version -- the ownership model of software can be awfully feast-or-famine for developers' income, it's a very tough/risky business model. Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the compa…

"You'll Own Nothing and You'll Be Happy"

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#305

Post by phrom »

bytehowl wrote: post #145

Ignoring all the issues around ownership, corporations being untrustworthy, etc., I think one of the biggest problems is that subscription costs aren't flexible enough and require too much micromanagement. You use a program 24/7 for a month straight? That'll be $10. You need to use a program just for a single 5-minute task in a whole month? That'll be $10. You literally don't touch a program for a month? That'll be $…

I agree with the micromanagement, but I don't see how subscription costs are less flexible than a buy once model. You can choose to have a single price, or multiple price points, in either payment model.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#306

Post by i_am_proteus »

Silhouette wrote: post #292
themacguffinman wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may not be advisable, but tell that to the XP-for-life or 7-for-life people. It won't actually stop working, it just means you're much more vulnerable to malware.

It won't actually stop working, it just means you're much more vulnerable to malware. The biggest threats haven't come from direct external assaults on the OS for years. I expect a typical consumer device is more at risk from an out of date browser than any other type of vulnerability now. The biggest risk for most of us as personal users is someone stealing our data via a hack, which often doesn't require root/admin…

It has been several years since WannaCry, but absolutely nothing guarantees that another such vulnerability does not surface.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#307

Post by Aeolun »

lunarplague wrote: post #299
lozenge wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't seen any improvement in Spotify in years. Still can't organise songs in any meaningful way, can't rate songs, playlists suck, shuffle is broken, and they keep pushing podcast content when I never listen to podcasts. 1Password also used to sync to Dropbox for free and even had an HTML version that could serve from Dropbox.

I don't understand how come you get podcast content pushed to you, and I have to actively search for podcast content and can't find anything outside of the bubbles I listen to without going to external sources. Also, arguably, shuffle is not broken, it is working as intended, as there is an intended method to shuffle the songs according to popularity, right? Unless they changed that.

I mean, you only have to open the main Spotify page. I also get podcast content pushed to me (half the main page/search results are always podcasts) and I've never even listened to one.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#308

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

solardev wrote: post #126
thot_experiment wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the heck subscription models are you using? In my experience the software gets broken over time and you can't do anything about it, including RUN THE OLD VERSION WHICH WORKED. There's no longer as much incentive for companies to improve because they'll get paid anyway instead of payment being contingent on actually delivering something useful. Yes subscription models are good for developers, no this doesn't make…

Not the OP, but I have to disagree too. Creative Cloud, IntelliJ, Figma, Google Workspace, Postman, Spotify, Vercel, Adguard, Google storage space, Alltrails, 1password.. They're all subscriptions and getting better all the time. Meanwhile it's the old purchased software like Windows and Office that get worse with every version.

Lastpass didn't deliver a single improvement, but they did double the yearly price

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#309

Post by pdntspa »

lunarplague wrote: post #299
lozenge wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't seen any improvement in Spotify in years. Still can't organise songs in any meaningful way, can't rate songs, playlists suck, shuffle is broken, and they keep pushing podcast content when I never listen to podcasts. 1Password also used to sync to Dropbox for free and even had an HTML version that could serve from Dropbox.

I don't understand how come you get podcast content pushed to you, and I have to actively search for podcast content and can't find anything outside of the bubbles I listen to without going to external sources. Also, arguably, shuffle is not broken, it is working as intended, as there is an intended method to shuffle the songs according to popularity, right? Unless they changed that.

> shuffle the songs according to highest streaming royalty for Spotify

FTFY

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#310

Post by cloudking »

The only thing I'm annoyed about this model is for WordPress plugins. There are a lot of sites using WordPress and pretty much every plugin has moved to a crippled free version + full paid version that requires a yearly subscription to receive updates. I'd rather just pay more upfront one time fees for lifetime updates.
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