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ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

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Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#111

Post by emodendroket »

MrGilbert wrote: post #15

Happy Scale, a weight tracking app I really enjoy, had the opposite example: I bought a full license for some bucks some years ago, and later they decided to switch to a subscription based model to ensure funding. Instead of going the "hey, here is a new version of the app, you need to subscribe now", they explicitly included a thank-you note directed at everyone that bought the "Premium In-App Purchase" at the begin…

Not saying it’s right but the reasoning is easy to understand: offering updates forever for someone who’s never going to give you any more money is profoundly unappealing from a business perspective

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#112

Post by asddubs »

toastal wrote: post #71
Someone1234 wrote: post #55

I just want to state outright that OP was wronged, and I side with them. That being said; I dislike both full subscription (i.e. breaks on expiration) and lifetime licenses. Subscriptions are too expensive for software that rarely gets major investment and lifetime licenses are dishonest (e.g. company cannot work for free, so their funded is based on unlimited growth, which isn't realistic for most). My current favor…

Can I pay to get extra years of software updates on Android yet? The 2-year support thing is awful.

that's a different situation though, because that's hardware which is coupled to software. Often exclusively, too (meaning you could install alternate operating systems, even if there were any).

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#113

Post by josephcsible »

This is now the third high-profile occurrence of this exact thing in just a few months. The last two were Filmora https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34199153> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34177057> and mIRC https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33864660>.

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#114

Post by Aissen »

toastal wrote: post #71
Someone1234 wrote: post #55

I just want to state outright that OP was wronged, and I side with them. That being said; I dislike both full subscription (i.e. breaks on expiration) and lifetime licenses. Subscriptions are too expensive for software that rarely gets major investment and lifetime licenses are dishonest (e.g. company cannot work for free, so their funded is based on unlimited growth, which isn't realistic for most). My current favor…

Can I pay to get extra years of software updates on Android yet? The 2-year support thing is awful.

It might soon become 5 years by law, at least in the EU. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-sa...

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#115

Post by emodendroket »

Pxtl wrote: post #62
nelox wrote: post #41

The OP states “the reason I tell all my CTO coachees they need everything in writing from their boss in their contract, a new boss will probably only honor what is written down, not spoken promises.” However, he seems to have ignored his own advice and not understood the ManyCam EULA. “… This license is in effect until one of the parties terminates the license. You may terminate the license by no longer using the Man…

While the contract would mean they have the right to terminate the "lifetime license", it would also mean that the phrasing "lifetime license" is false advertising isn't it?

I’m not sure, since “lifetime warranties” are never actually perpetual either.

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#116

Post by bcrosby95 »

dceddia wrote: post #102
Someone1234 wrote: post #55

I just want to state outright that OP was wronged, and I side with them. That being said; I dislike both full subscription (i.e. breaks on expiration) and lifetime licenses. Subscriptions are too expensive for software that rarely gets major investment and lifetime licenses are dishonest (e.g. company cannot work for free, so their funded is based on unlimited growth, which isn't realistic for most). My current favor…

From the developer side I feel like this type of license makes the most sense to me too. After selling a desktop app with a license like that for a little while though, I’ve also unfortunately realized that not everyone understands it. I had a number of customers referring to it as a “subscription” (which it wasn’t, because it didn’t auto-renew and you could keep using the last version forever) or “lifetime” (which i…

Heh, the DLC business model from games comes to mind.

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#117

Post by emodendroket »

rarkins wrote: post #101

Visicom really pumped the ManyCam lifetime upsells. I found 15 emails over an 18 month period in 2020-2021 with them pitching lifetime (which I eventually bought). An example email text they used is: > Upgrade now to ManyCam Studio Lifetime for only $39 and get access to all the future versions and updates, forever! What they presented to the user was unequivocal. In a just world, the company who sold ManyCam (Visico…

The fact they were pumping these for only $39 kind of suggests the reason they never should have made such a commitment in the first place.

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#118

Post by iamsaitam »

wowyallsuck wrote: post #2

Has any company’s “lifetime” license lasted more than, say 5 years? 10? (I mean for software that is updated or requires a server of course). I like the jetbrains model well enough.

No Man's Sky seems to have provided such a thing, taking into account all the updates with 0 paid DLCs.

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#119

Post by SturgeonsLaw »

asddubs wrote: post #109
dceddia wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the developer side I feel like this type of license makes the most sense to me too. After selling a desktop app with a license like that for a little while though, I’ve also unfortunately realized that not everyone understands it. I had a number of customers referring to it as a “subscription” (which it wasn’t, because it didn’t auto-renew and you could keep using the last version forever) or “lifetime” (which i…

I think the easiest way to communicate it is to just regularly increment your version number and then have people be able to buy version X. Like Photoshop, and really most software used to be sold.

Right! Has it really been that long since this was the status quo?!

There was a time when it was expected that you bought a copy of Widgetmaker 2, and you could use it for as long as you liked, there might be some patches, there might not, but you own (or something close to it) the software and can use it whenever you want.

When Widgetmaker 3 comes out, it's a new product with new features, and you'd have to buy it separately if you want the new goodies. Simple. It worked well enough to build behemoths like 1990's Microsoft.

There are some companies that claim to offer this, but are very sneaky in their approach (NitroPDF is one I'm familiar with), they will offer a one-off purchase, but after a release or two, will no longer provide downloads for your version's installer, and in some cases won't activate it if you reinstall using your own copy of the installation media.

Bring back the days of installing your software, typing in your product key, then using it for as long as you wish.

Re: ManyCam dishonored my lifetime license

#120

Post by dceddia »

asddubs wrote: post #109
dceddia wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the developer side I feel like this type of license makes the most sense to me too. After selling a desktop app with a license like that for a little while though, I’ve also unfortunately realized that not everyone understands it. I had a number of customers referring to it as a “subscription” (which it wasn’t, because it didn’t auto-renew and you could keep using the last version forever) or “lifetime” (which i…

I think the easiest way to communicate it is to just regularly increment your version number and then have people be able to buy version X. Like Photoshop, and really most software used to be sold.

Yeah, that's another way to go, and I considered doing that. The main thing I didn't like about that strategy was how I'd be sitting on lots of unused code between major releases. All the new features sitting on my SSD for months aren't helping any customers :/
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