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Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

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Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#241

Post by NoMAD76 »

julianlam wrote: post #225
ekianjo wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I pay for the thing it allows me to do Why can't software ever be "finished" or "sufficient" to meet your needs? I don't see the point of having software is updated day after day, month after month, if I am not interested in the new features they bring.

Security vulnerabilities are regularly found in many softwares (both online and offline), so that's one reason to upgrade.

Security vulnerabilities should be fixed by patches/security fixes w/o forcing users to go up the ladder to "za niu anz shaini version" + "our new and enhanced x$/mo"

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#242

Post by biztos »

nickjj wrote: post #233

For technical learning material do you prefer a SAAS model where you pay $10-20 / month for all-in access to short isolated videos in a related subject (potentially ~4 new videos a month) or dropping $50-150 one time for a course that could be anywhere from 3-15 hours long? It's kind of comparing apples to oranges but as someone who has made courses for a while I've always thought about the idea of doing weekly scree…

I don’t see what’s SAAS about a content subscription but yes, I prefer that.

Reason being that I’m often unsure how deep I want to go in a subject, so putting up say $20/mo gives me the option of only spending $20 if during the first month I decide it’s not what I want.

If you want to see a very good (IMO) implementation of this model, check out Ray Wenderlich. Lots of free stuff to show you the style. Then $20/mo or $40/mo for “pro.”

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#243

Post by bheadmaster »

ghaff wrote: post #232
bheadmaster wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be, though. We have standardized hardware and OS API/ABI. Is it really reasonable for software industry to drain so much money just because it takes some effort to write a program that won't magically rot in a few years?

You're perfectly welcome to keep your computer and its software running in isolation until the end of time or until the hardware fails. You just shouldn't expect to be able to connect to networks that change over time or to run software on new operating systems that address newly discovered security vulnerabilities or that otherwise get updated.

Networks don't change over time. Centralized "application-servers" do. Making applications network-dependent when they don't need to be is a part of the problem.

Security vulnerabilities don't change OS APIs. OS APIs are one of the most stable constructs in computing.

There is a huge subset of software that doesn't require interaction over the network, and can be written to last. And even inherently network-dependent applications could be written using p2p technologies, making them independent on anyone's computer. Just because the everything sucks right now doesn't mean it has to.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#244

Post by david_allison »

muppetman wrote: post #144
jwr wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a cynical take, but is actually close to the truth. The usual take is that businesses are "greedy" and subscription models are "lucrative". The word I'd rather use is "sustainable". Maintaining software (any software) is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. It needs to be paid for on an ongoing basis. Even a tiny phone app needs regular maintenance work just to stay current with OS and tools de…

Windows 3.11, Office, Windows 95 etc seem to have done ok without monthly payments.

Microsoft respects developers. Google doesn't

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#245

Post by ChadNauseam »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #229
Varqu wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking from a consumer perspective, there should be definitely 2 options: 1. You pay for a subscription $X per month and get the newest updates. 2. You pay $Y*X once, but then you are left with the version which you bought in the first place.

Why can't software like a music player or playing podcast function perfectly fine w9thout updates for 10 years. We had same audio formats for 10 years, and same OS audio API.

this is my own ignorance, but have codecs not changed or gotten new features in the last 10 years?

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#246

Post by varispeed »

szastamasta wrote: post #237

I really liked the old way it used to work. You bought a license for software and got only bugfixes and security patches. Every second year there was a new version released with 50-75% upgrade price for current users. I totally understand subscriptions for online services that run on provider servers/storage etc. (like Evernote) or content services where you get access to a vast database of always growing content, th…

> Autodesk Fusion 360

They shoehorn their cloud service and certain operations are done on their servers, which are awfully slow. It seems like they added this to justify a subscription and not to give any benefit to the user.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#247

Post by worthless-trash »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #228
ekianjo wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I pay for the thing it allows me to do Why can't software ever be "finished" or "sufficient" to meet your needs? I don't see the point of having software is updated day after day, month after month, if I am not interested in the new features they bring.

Operating systems are starting to make that impossible. I used to use an old version of Quicken for Mac (this was back in the MacOS 10.2 days). It was "finished" in that it did absolutely everything I needed and there were no bugs that affected me. As time marched on, Apple switched from PowerPC to Intel which was fine because they had technology (Rosetta) which allowed me to run PowerPC applications. Then they dropp…

No, shitty operating systems make that impossible.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#248

Post by paulryanrogers »

withinboredom wrote: post #102
chrisseaton wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the software requires continuous updates and a server component and storage and things, this doesn't make any sense.

There’s a ceiling, a point you can never pass, with a subscription model due to churn. There isn’t a ceiling with one-off purchases.

Isn't the one-off ceiling much the same: everyone who is interested has bought it, of at least tried it?

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#250

Post by badtension »

nbzso wrote: post #208

SaaS model is applicable in some use cases. The VC like it, because they can give the investors comfortable idea of progressive growth and quick ROI. But I am patiently waiting to see what will be the consumer reaction when everything becomes compartmentalized and monetized to hell. Like the great ideas of geniuses in BMW headquarters:) https://www.thedrive.com/news/bmw-is-charging-a-subscription... https://www.wired…

Making a subscription service out of physical products (that are there anyway) is really too crazy to wrap my head around. Why not make us pay monthly for everything? Trunk, headlights, the horn, blinkers, blinker fluid cap opener and so on. Oh wait, that's just car rental! Let's just abolish all private property and pay subscription for living, like a reverse UBI.
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