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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?

#491

Post by ei8ths »

fxtentacle wrote: post #123

As a software developer, I experienced the need for subscription revenue first hand. Regular users want support for their software and there's only so much you can do for a fixed one-time payment. As an example, Windows might update on their computer without their knowledge but that Windows update breaks something so the user is like "I didn't change anything but your app stopped working" and in that situation you're…

This, im still using a jetbrains php 2017...i don't really do stuff in PHP anymore but i have a couple old projects where i used it and just maintain them in phpstorm and its still working great. If i was still doing PHP i would easily upgrade it. Its the better model for software.

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

#492

Post by ohdannyboy »

torgian wrote: post #477

I've _very_ tired of it. If I do develop an app, it'll be a one-item purchase. Hell, subscription model is making its way into CARS. It's so stupid. Mercedes is doing that... 1200 USD a year to "unlock" power. I mean, for fuck sake. You're spending a hundred grand on a luxury car and you still need to pay?

I really wonder how this is going to play out in the auto industry. Adobe can get away away with a lot because a number of their products, namely Photoshop, has no real competition. I would rather have Photoshop from 2005 than today's GIMP.

This dynamic does not exist in the auto market. 4 companies compete for just German luxury (in the US), with dozens of viable options in the broader luxury sector. Actually rolling out subscription based lockouts of on board features just seems like suicide.

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

#493

Post by least »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #469
least wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify's killer feature at this point is probably that they have an ad-supported tier while none of the other services (that I'm aware of) do... unless you count youtube? I think lyrics was a bit of legal hurdle so Spotify had to get rid of it. I imagine they brought it back recently as they worked out a legal way to provide them again.

To me, Spotify's killer feature is Spotify connect and official Linux support. I keep looking at Deezer for its cheap hi-def support (the premium plan now has FLAC, for the same price as Spotify). But integrations with non-officially sanctioned devices seem janky, at best. Maybe things have improved, but at one point I had a Yamaha receiver, officially supported, which basically replicated the Deezer interface inside…

You're right, I do think Spotify connect is an absolutely killer feature that I'm surprised it hasn't been replicated by other companies. I'm a fairly happy Apple Music user but that's definitely one of the things I miss about using Spotify. It's truly bizarre for Apple who has fairly good integrations and Music continuity just makes sense.

Spotify Wrapped is also kind of a cultural phenomenon. People enjoy sharing and talking about it and I guess it's the default assumption that you're using Spotify so you can easily share playlists and stuff to other users. Spotify has the network that smaller services don't.

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

#494

Post by least »

class4behavior wrote: post #439
least wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify's killer feature at this point is probably that they have an ad-supported tier while none of the other services (that I'm aware of) do... unless you count youtube? I think lyrics was a bit of legal hurdle so Spotify had to get rid of it. I imagine they brought it back recently as they worked out a legal way to provide them again.

Nonsense. Most of them do. Deezer even offered a bigger music archive in the beginning. Tidal started as sub only but added a US only free tier, instead it pays its artist much better.

Apologies, then, my knowledge of the state of music services is apparently quite outdated. Has Deezer always offered a free tier? They're not really on my radar.

In either case, I do think some of the points the other comment made are prescient. Spotify Connect is definitely a killer feature and I think Spotify Wrapped is one of those cultural phenomenon that you can't reliably predict the impact of. Network effects definitely seem to be quite powerful.

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

#495

Post by carom »

habosa wrote: post #468
carom wrote: post #464

Everything should be pay-as-you-go. We need infrastructure for low fee microtranscactions. Subscriptions exist because of the minimums on card payments. You can't charge a cent to read an article because the banks will be taking 20c + 2%. Micropayments are my dream. I'm extremely negative on cryptocurrency but the lightning network is the closest technology I have seen to achieving it. It is just a nightmare to use.…

Other countries, like France, have credit card fees https://www.valuepenguin.com/interchange-fees-na-vs-eu

Yes, that is what I am saying. Our banks are the problem. Does the 0.5% have a flat fee attached to it or could I make a 1 cent charge (+ 1 cent fee)?

Edit: There are still gateway fees so my point stands.

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

#496

Post by meatmanek »

InCityDreams wrote: post #424
soulofmischief wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that modern software is a living breathing thing, but it's absurd to compare that to music albums, which should not be constantly modified and reissued post-release.

...remasters? Conversion of tape to plastic to mp.... Newer, better(?), tech available for engineers. Zappa [iirc] made his plastic lp's 22 minutes a side as that gave the optimum wiggle room for needles, both at the presses and domestically. Led Zep (ahem) re-released an awful lot of original material.

and anybody who cares about that (or just wants to support the artist) will buy the new version.

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

#497

Post by MiddleEndian »

JadeNB wrote: post #151
solardev wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Creative Cloud … all subscriptions and getting better all the time. I may be an atypical user—I'm definitely sub-power user in this domain—but everything Adobe has got worse for me since moving to "Creative Cloud".

I use Creative Cloud as well, but I've found with auto-update you get random unexpected bugs. I disable it, I kill their background processes if I notice them, and occasionally I'll let it update things if I know a new version has something I want.

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

#498

Post by CGamesPlay »

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.

1Password is objectively getting worse: 1Password 7 has 4.3 stars on the App Store and 1Password 8 has a measly 2.7 stars. 1Password 7 is no longer receiving updates (it's no longer for sale either). 1Password 8 requires iOS 15, so the updates that you're paying for as part of your subscription model require that you pay for a new phone to get them.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/1password-7-password-manager/i... and https://apps.apple.com/us/app/1password-8-password-manager/i...

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

#499

Post by chillfox »

layer8 wrote: post #473
nvln wrote: post #409

I'm tired of it and everything (analytics, growth hacking, conversion metrics, ad-tech) that comes along with it. It has sapped my desire to make good products. I've decided to abandon all VC wisdom and go retro. I'm experimenting with an extremely liberal pricing model and business ethos for my upcoming products and hoping against hope that it succeeds. https://koodpad.com/notes/why-pay/

I mostly agree, but for the love of god please replace that Comic Sans. :)

Comic Sans is a pretty good font, it's only sin is having been the default in Microsoft Word for several years.
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