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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?

#51

Post by quaintdev »

rc_mob wrote: post #39
jedberg wrote: post #27

I 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.

yep. is the problem with capitalism. if you are not growing in profits then you are dying. the happiness of the people be damned.

This exact behavior drives planned obsolescence. This has led to so much waste over past century that it's going to be very hard to go back. I was baffled that we invented a bulb that could last 100 years over a century ago and I still have to change bulbs every year or two. There are nice documentaries about this

[0] The end of ownership https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOO-pYUl9-w

[1] This is why we can't have nice things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5v8D-alAKE

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

#52

Post by ly3xqhl8g9 »

A heuristic for somewhat ethical subscriptions it's probably to decouple subscriptions from the calendar.

Instead of $X/month, which must be paid even if using intensively, barely, or not at all the service, to have $X for Y amount of "no expiration date" minutes of service. Just want to try the service, pay $0.X for 10 minutes. Really like the service, pay $X++ for 1,000 minutes and not worry about it. Of course, the minute counter would stop when going away from keyboard. Maybe even more ethical, instead of paying for minutes to pay for actions per minute, $X for 10K APMs, use them how you deem fit.

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

#53

Post by lapcat »

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…

> I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version

Do you have examples?

Most new businesses fail regardless of their business model, so you'd have to argue that this phenomenon was somehow worse for non-subs.

> Not to mention that a yearly subscription is cheaper than buying outright

Not in the long term.

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

#55

Post by lapcat »

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…

> It gives me faith that they can actually sustain their business and pay their employees to maintain and improve the service over time.

> Owning software is worthless to me because their effective lifespans are so short anyway, usually just a couple years, before the ecosystem has moved on and left them behind anyway.

I find it strange that these two sentences are in the same comment.

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

#56

Post by AlexandrB »

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…

It's so much worse when a subscription business fails. You can lose access to your data with very little notice to migrate. At least standalone software keeps working for a while after the company maintaining it is gone.

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

#57

Post by ImPleadThe5th »

I understand the need for recurring revenue especially for things that offer cloud services. But I also would like to get off the cloud where possible.

I like hybrid subscription models. Where I pay monthly for support and updates and once I've paid off the price of a version I could stop paying and just not get any additional features, support, ect. I'd even be okay if this strips back a few features. I think Jetbrains offers something like this?

The thing I don't like about subscription models is that it makes it restrictive for who can use certain tools. I love messing around with the Adobe Suite for fun, I use it in a professional setting maybe once every couple of months. I can't justify the almost $1000 a year price tag.

I would love to be able to give adobe money. I would love to use their product. I just can't justify it as a non-pro user.

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

#59

Post by 37 »

>So yeah, why is that? And is anyone else tired of the constant barrage of subscriptions for things that should be one off purchases?

It's extremely tiresome. And surely the only motives are profit and control.

It's gotten so bad that now auto manufacturers are charging monthly subscriptions to use features that are built into the car that you have already purchased.[0] It's a disturbing trend that will eventually have to fall short somewhere down the line.

[0] https://www.motor1.com/news/597376/bmw-heated-seats-subscrip...

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

#60

Post by xigoi »

ericpauley wrote: post #3

Most 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.

A lot of software doesn't need to be a service.
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