Another one turning to the rent-seeking subscription SaSS grift model for just a basic email client.
If it's that basic just use whatever comes with your OS
Spark email client goes subscription path
11–20 of 61 posts
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#12Subscriptions are uncontroversial when there's a perceived cost to the user of the ongoing usage. In fact I believe it tracks very closely with the "Cost of Goods Sold" (COGS). No one questions whether Dropbox should be a one-off price or a subscription, there's obviously ongoing cost to storing the data. However for apps that don't have this there's always going to be push back. Developers typically point to custome…
Well said. I never really thought about why some SASS offerings make intuitive sense while others seem unnecessary.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#13I don't mind paying monthly fees for tools that I get regular value out of. But I hate that feeling of paying for ongoing subscriptions that I rarely use. Plus deciding whether or not to cancel adds to my overall decision fatigue.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#14Unfortunate that people who make more than $100/hr won't pay $60/year for an app they use every day.
Because the people got there did so by making sensible fiscal choices, maybe?
Just because someone decides to slap a subscription onto an email client (whose feature set is pretty standardized across the internet), doesn't mean it's worth it.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#15Unfortunate that people who make more than $100/hr won't pay $60/year for an app they use every day.
Thunderbird is free, Outlook comes with an office subscription, most people probably just use Gmail.
Then there is Apple Mail if you are on Apple.
These are all good clients. I have never heard of Spark, is it that much better?
Edit: looking through their feature set, the answer is no. It doesn't seem to have a feature Thunderbird doesn't.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#16Subscriptions are uncontroversial when there's a perceived cost to the user of the ongoing usage. In fact I believe it tracks very closely with the "Cost of Goods Sold" (COGS). No one questions whether Dropbox should be a one-off price or a subscription, there's obviously ongoing cost to storing the data. However for apps that don't have this there's always going to be push back. Developers typically point to custome…
For ongoing development there already exists a model where you buy a license that lets you use the current version plus maybe any upgrades happening in the next X months. I'd be happy to regularly pay 5 or 10 bucks for an app I love if it gets updates but that's not what we're seeing I think. The current model is based on subscriptions because of exactly one reason. Hope that the consumer forgets about the recurring…
From what I understand the iOS App Store doesn't support that model. I've heard complaints from developers who have used that model with success on the Mac, and are frustrated that they can't do so on iOS.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#17Unfortunate that people who make more than $100/hr won't pay $60/year for an app they use every day.
I paid for Spark once when I bought it, can't remember how much. It currently have every feature I need. Can you please explain why would I pay on a monthly basis for it, when I don't want new features, I don't want UI redesign just keep the app in a working state while we are going through the regular OS upgrade cycle.
My general experience with subscription based apps is that sooner or later they will introduce features I don't care at all, they remove features I use, they redesign the UI, in some cases they release a fully new version which does not even have feature parity with the previous version. (Looking at you 1password) and I simply cannot justify paying to a team who is obligated to do some feature work on a software I consider complete because I'm paying them money and ending up with something with a different look and feature set.
Charge me enough once to cover you development cost for the current state of the app, even charge me even for the upgrades needed to make your stuff working on a newer OS version.
It is sure a nice thing to get a continuous stream of money for a feature which had a one of cost, but on the consumer side, you will end up with an empty pocket very fast, if you are getting charged for every software/car/TV you use on a monthly basis.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#18The only reason I use Spark over Apple Mail is that I get push notifications as I receive emails on my Gmail account.
Unless you’re a paying Gmail customer, you can’t get push, only pull email.
With Spark you now don’t get priority email, whatever that is, so why would I stay? Back to Apple mail it is
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#19laughs in Superhuman
Puny mortals.
Re: Spark email client goes subscription path
#20The only reason I use Spark over Apple Mail is that I get push notifications as I receive emails on my Gmail account. Unless you’re a paying Gmail customer, you can’t get push, only pull email. With Spark you now don’t get priority email, whatever that is, so why would I stay? Back to Apple mail it is
Gmail's bad/nonstandard IMAP is one of the reasons my Gmail account has long been relegated to a spam bucket address. Anything important is going to either Fastmail with a custom domain or iCloud mail.