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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?

#681

Post by kmano8 »

saiya-jin wrote: post #566
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…

To sum it up - good for the companies, not so good for many users. I fail to grasp why as a user I should care about increasing salaries at given company though, my priorities are elsewhere, even orthogonal since its my cash they so desperately want. The company part - just look at how Adobe increased profits when they moved to subscription model. Many vocal users hated it since day 1, but majority goes and buys it e…

> But most simply see increased TCO long term on product they are sort of 'stuck' with, in sense they have workflow and tool they are good at, fast, and understand it

This is my exact issue with lightroom. I have 9 yrs of edit history, and workflows setup + a mobile app that seamlessly imports everything from my phone into my main catalog alongside my "big camera" shots. If there was a competitor that migrated all of this cleanly, I'd be happy to modify my workflows to break out of the lock in.

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

#682

Post by gernb »

solardev wrote: post #139
gernb wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can go both ways. Upgrades: Plus: Must be compelling so they must come up with new features Minus: Sometimes those new features are bad. Subscriptions: Plus: Keep it working on new OS versions Minus: No compelling reason to add anything.

I've never really seen a subscription program stagnate in practice. In fact I find that subscriptions allow companies to detach revenue from feature planning and deliver useful features rather than shiny new UIs.

Of course it's subjective but my feeling is Photoshop hasn't added anything of significance since they went subscription. The majority of new features have been cloud intergration (something not even many of Adobe's employees want) and UI tweaks

They're even removing features

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/3d-faq.html#discontinue...

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

#683

Post by TheHappyOddish »

alwayslikethis wrote: post #361
itake wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Syncthing doesn't work for iOS https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-for-ios/16045 > it's also possible to set multiple different gpg keys for a specific directory. I don't think the last option is doable for most people though. this seems really complex...

that's on Apple, not on Syncthing. Guess what, when you lock down your devices so much they can't perform many useful functions. Next time, just get a phone you can actually own.

Yes, purchasing a phone from an advertising company hellbent on gathering as much as they can from you sounds much more positive.

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

#684

Post by webworker »

winternett wrote: post #433
pdntspa wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> shuffle the songs according to highest streaming royalty for Spotify FTFY

It also happens with my music player when playing my own library of music, it has actually gotten that bad that even random no longer works as it should. This is why I kept all of my old CDs, Mp3s, and DVDs... One day we're going to have to boycott everything and it will be painful for those who only had subscriptions on entertainment & productivity apps. I'll load up windows 98 if I have to! I'll do it again!

I have been saying this for years. I have a HUGE amount of CDs that I have gotten at bargain prices from thrift stores over the years (it’s been an interesting curation method), and I keep them all organized on a plex server. It’s as close to best of both worlds as you can get today imo.

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

#685

Post by Enginerrrd »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #671
Enginerrrd wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'd appreciate updates if they just fixed bugs, security, and the stuff that was broke. Instead, it's often endless addition of features no one asked for and UI redesigns/reorgnization. No thanks. I'd probably be willing to pay a subscription to withhold that part.

“No one asked for” That’s a huge assumption, likely wrong.

It was hyperbolic, admittedly, but it's a very small percentage of users that request any new features.

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

#687

Post by knighthack »

techdragon wrote: post #418
coldtea wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've mixed subscription based services (Google storage space) and content (Spotify) with subscription based software. For services, it might make sense. Even so, what exactly is "getting better all the time" about Spotify the software? It's been the same for like 5 years now. As for the rest: 1Password declined (turned to Electron shit), Creative Cloud keeps adding bloat while not adressing decades standing issues,…

IntelliJ has arguably one of the best subscription models for tools. It works offline and they have fallback licenses so if they doubled the price and I cancel I’m still legally entitled to a recent version that I’ll probably be happy enough with until I find the motivation to replace it with something else. If Adobe worked like that I’d be like 75% pissed off at their products and pricing.

I've been subscribed to IntelliJ close to 8 years now.

The one reason why I tolerate IntelliJ's subscription/pricing model is that unlike Adobe, they actually do deliver constant and worthwhile updates. Their software also rarely crashes, and their universal workflow (across different languages, themes, key bindings, plugins) also works as promised.

If not for the above the subscription would be a very hard sell for me.

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

#688

Post by aryehof »

hk__2 wrote: post #130

I’m happy with the way JetBrain’s pricing work: pay a subscription to get the updates, but you’re free to cancel at anytime and you can continue using the product as-is as long as you want.

Not as is. Instead as it was at the start of the current subscription period.

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

#689

Post by timka »

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…

How old are you?

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

#690

Post by timka »

There is hope. Well, sort of. Services exists because of the unprecedentedly large middle class that's been created artificially by using currency emission to stimulate consumer demand and thus grow the economy ('raegonomics'). But it's been quite a while since emission stopped working and started to give the opposite effect.

This[1] Russian guy explains the roots of the situation really well (just ignore the title, it has nothing to do with Russia and sanctions). BTW, this is the first time I see him speaking for English-speaking audience since I know him (12+ years).

[1] https://thealtworld.com/scott_ritter/impact-of-sanctions-on-... [1]

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