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When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

blog.zulip.com

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Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#151

Post by chii »

asynchronyse wrote: post #147

Google pulled off a similar thing with their photos app. Offered "unlimited" storage in 2016, improved the AI leveraging all our data, discontinued in 2021. Never using cloud again.

When someone else controls your compute, you're not owning but renting, regardless of how or what they call it in the marketing.

Unless legislation changes to make sure consumer rights are respected for cloud offerings, it won't change one bit.

I would say buy your own drives, and store your own data on location. Use cloud as a backup rather than a primary use.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#152

Post by George83728 »

sigstoat wrote: post #64
nimbius wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like if its 2023 and you're still gullible enough to fall for "free forever" bait and switch offerings from cloud providers then we need to have a frank discussion on neofeudalist late stage capitalism where a mainstay of its many successes in the digital realm is to literally trick you into consuming a product and pretend like it never happened.

> neofeudalist late stage capitalism how does that differ from "late stage capitalism" and/or "neofeudalist capitalism"?

The "late stage" meme smacks of unwarranted optimism. It presumes too much knowledge about future manifestations capitalism yet to unfold. I guess it ties into the notion of communism being a deterministic inevitability according to the science of socialism. Hubris, is what it is.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#153

Post by usr1106 »

kibwen wrote: post #57
lanstein wrote: post #4

For the love of God, just use Zulip :) It’s how we stay sane.

You should use Zulip not because it's free, but rather because it's excellent and kicks the pants off of Slack and its clones, who are more of an impediment to productivity than an aid. (Well, the desktop experience is excellent, but the phone app is lacking.)

How is the phone app lacking? I am in the lucky situation to use zulip on the desktop at work. I often work long days, but my phone I keep 100% free of work stuff. So I have never seen the phone app, but I have heard unspecific complaints about the phone app before.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#154

Post by alanfranz »

My 2c: I hate that those changes are that SUDDEN. You can’t afford the free offering anymore? Fine.

Give me 12 months to migrate. 4 months is basically extortion. I have the same compliant about google services: shutting them down in a few months is a shitty move. Give me time to find a replacement; especially if 0.5% of your users means millions of people.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#155

Post by differentView »

vel0city wrote: post #63
blagie wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It does not become a "verbal contract," but the concept is promissory estoppel. Look it up. If you make a promise, and I rely on that promise, and I suffer financial loss, you're liable. It's a good idea too. If you promise that a plan will be free forever, people should be able to rely on that promise. You might get beta tester, promoters, or whatever you want. If those people stop being useful to you, you can'…

In many jurisdictions contracts can't actually be "forever" though. They need to have some kind of possible end state.

So you're saying I may be able to get out of this contract I have with my wife.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#156

Post by orphea »

Dalewyn wrote: post #75
stanmancan wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I totally agree. Capitalizing on a competitors mistake is kind of slimy; calling out their poor business practices is not. Users will invest their time and resources into using your product based on the promise that it’s free forever. Changing your mind later puts the burden on them to figure out how to move forward. Even if I was a free user and I was considering a paid plan that type of dishonesty would ma…

>Users will invest their time and resources into using your product based on the promise that it’s free forever. Unless you're a naive new entrant into the real world who doesn't know better, it's on you if you're fooled into thinking something is "free forever". There is no such thing as a free lunch.

You resort to victim blaming.

Words should have meaning, you know?

If there is no such thing as a free lunch, then you should not be allowed to offer free lunches.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#157

Post by Panzer04 »

dazc wrote: post #146
selcuka wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must have missed this part if you read the article: > But Mattermost is breaking the “free forever” promise made to its customers, and without any acknowledgement or apology. The “free forever” note was quietly removed from Mattermost’s website in the month leading up to the announcement, and is never mentioned in the email Mattermost sent to affected customers. Surely, one can expect better than that from a comp…

'Surely, one can expect better than that from a company whose stated principles include “customer obsession” and “earn trust”.' One should expect better but one should also expect such words to be basically bullshit too.

But why should we accept that such statements are bullshit? It’s because companies are so cavalier with their advertising language and we let them get away with it.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#158

Post by langsoul-com »

Nothing will be free forever if the company foots the bill. Eventually, the number of free users, who don't transition aren't worth it.

They can go nuclear and kill the free, but most often it's reducing the free tier until it's no longer usable.

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#159

Post by dmurray »

langsoul-com wrote: post #158

Nothing will be free forever if the company foots the bill. Eventually, the number of free users, who don't transition aren't worth it. They can go nuclear and kill the free, but most often it's reducing the free tier until it's no longer usable.

How long do you think we have with Gmail?

Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”

#160

Post by [deleted] »

dmurray wrote: post #159
langsoul-com wrote: post #158

Nothing will be free forever if the company foots the bill. Eventually, the number of free users, who don't transition aren't worth it. They can go nuclear and kill the free, but most often it's reducing the free tier until it's no longer usable.

How long do you think we have with Gmail?

[deleted]
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