VSCode extension? SaaS
Gym app? SaaS
Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
21–30 of 710 posts
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#22Yes, I also feel in many cases is not abuse but scam. For example, I bought a Muse Brain device just to discover that plain retrieving of EEG (not meditation or sleep options in the mobile app) metrics was a subscriber only option. So what are you selling Muse? Refrigerators?
I had that happen with a sleep tracker for Apple Watch. It was a few dollars for the app, but to actually view the data it tracked while you were asleep, you had to upgrade to the premium subscription. Fortunately it was easy enough to get a refund[1].
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#23I dunno. I felt like it was a mistake to get a Plex Pass that I paid for once because Plex had my money and didn't have to listen to me with product direction and Plex got worse and worse at serving media from my local server while it became increasingly focused on showing me ads for off-brand streaming services. I think the subscription model actually works for Adobe in that the upfront price of creative cloud was a…
Eh, lifetime Plex Pass pays itself for three years even at normal pricing. I got mine during a discount so mine pays itself off in about 2 years and 3 months, which would have been in November 2022. I don't also remember seeing any streaming services in my Plex instance. I'm definitely happier having my lifetime Plex Pass over a monthly subscription.
Is there a killer feature that's unique to Plex? Or is it just pleasantly integrated?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#24And this is exactly the reason I self host[0]. I am pretty sure it's not just me. I have seen r/selfhosted[1] skyrocket in it popularity over past year or two. The number of applications that you can self host are increasing daily. The only problem at the moment with self hosting seems to be the maintenance and setup but that also will be solved once many people start doing it. History repeats itself. Self hosting to…
Great, let’s make a subscription based service to help people easily self-host…
Isn't that what Tailscale is?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#25Most software is fundamentally a service. You want to be able to sync your passwords and notes, and receive security and bug fix updates. Companies need to fund that infrastructure and ongoing development.
They do, by buying the next version. On the other side of that coin is making the next version better enough that people will upgrade.
For security/bug fixes, yes, there’s a better incentive for fixes in SaaS, but then again, if you’re known to actually fix bugs, the likelihood of people buying the upgrades are higher, so there is incentives for non SaaS too.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#26Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#27I would say this is Wall Street's fault. Wall Street values recurring revenue much more than one time revenue. It's causing companies to shift to recurring revenue when they have no reason to, like how BMW is charging a subscription to have seat heaters.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#28Rent-seeking is the end stage of late neoliberal capitalism.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#29Yes, but it's not going to change now that it's been proven viable.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
#30It really depends for me.
For something I might use once a year or something I play around with for a few weeks and then forget about? Just let me pay for it. (And I'll mostly just pass if you only offer a subscription as most subscriptions add up.)
But for something reasonably priced that I use a lot and would generally keep up to date with anyway? I'm fine with a subscription. That's the case with me and Adobe.
Subscriptions also do better align your interests with the interests of the company. If your password manager isn't the best any longer? Drop the subscription and get a different one. With a one-time purchase, there's also a lot of incentive to either charge for major upgrades or even just come out with a "new" product under a different name.