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37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

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Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#171

Post by hiq »

znpy wrote: post #120
core-utility wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be more interesting is to compare over 10 years for someone who buys upgrades (CS2->CS3->CS4 etc.) as they come out. Additionally the individual Dreamweaver price is very high compared to "All Apps" plan at $660 per year.

> What would be more interesting is to compare over 10 years for someone who buys upgrades (CS2->CS3->CS4 etc.) as they come out. but nobody does that, really. most people i know skip entire versions of windows (eg: 7->10), let a lone individual software releases.

You just reminded me that Windows 8 was a thing, I had to check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows#Version_hist... to remember it.

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#172

Post by turnsout »

core-utility wrote: post #126
kwanbix wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is when it adds up: you pay for FCP, for Adobe, for Office, for Figma, for X... at the end, you are paying 200 dollars per month in software (without counting Netflix, Spotify, hosting, etc).

This is true of buy-once software too. You used to pay a significantly higher cost for FCP, Adobe, Office, etc......

And you would still be forced to upgrade every 2-3 years once people started to send you incompatible files!

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#173

Post by gremlinsinc »

sosodev wrote: post #79
pb7 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny that you talk about greed when one of the reasons everything went the way of subscriptions is because of piracy. Even here and today, people defend pirating movies when you can rent one for a few bucks in 4K HDR with Dolby. Nothing but greed by people making top 1%-10%ile incomes.

I get pretty annoyed paying $4 to rent a movie that was released 40 years ago. It used to be that I could pay $4 to own a copy of that movie I picked up out of the bargain bin. I still pay it though because I prefer to support companies that at least make their media available.

or you'd pay $4 for new releases, $1.88 for older movies. We'd maybe rent a new release if it was a really good one or wait 6 to 8 months.

I honestly kind of miss those days, I mean I love Netflix and chill like the next guy, usually without the chill cause we have toddlers and no energy, but it was like an event.

My aunt or grandma would be like hey let's get a movie and I'd be like yay! it's a blockbuster night! We'd often get cassanos pizza and/or popcorn and treats and watch the main movie, and the cheap ones the next day.

I kinda miss libraries too, but no clue how any programmer could work without Google, and six months in maybe gpt4, etc...

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#174

Post by [deleted] »

swores wrote: post #145
znpy wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

15 years ago most teenagers i knew had the full office suite, photoshop and most other softwares for free. I'm not gonna tell you how, but it's easy to imagine. Guess what, those people wouldn't have paid for a license anyway, so no real license money is lost. More importantly, it needs to be said that if you got an older computer you could just use an older version of the software, no problem. Now you can't do that…

> paid 150 euros out of my personal pocket last year for a SecureCRT license and i love it I'm curious what makes SecureCRT better than PuTTY or even Windows Terminal enough to be worth paying for - am I missing out on some amazing experience, or does it have certain amazing features others lack, or...?

[deleted]

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#175

Post by BXlnt2EachOther »

nirvdrum wrote: post #141
crazygringo wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. If you used to need to use software for a weeklong project, you'd have to pirate it because there was no way to justify the cost. Now you just sign up for a month and then cancel. It's a huge improvement in flexibility and paying for what you use. Not to mention the software is always updated, so you don't need to worry about whether your image editor you purchased 7 years ago supports the RAW format of the…

> It's a huge improvement in flexibility and paying for what you use. Not to mention the software is always updated, so you don't need to worry about whether your image editor you purchased 7 years ago supports the RAW format of the camera that came out 2 years ago. I see this the other way. I don't want to be forced to upgrade. If you add valuable features, I'll pay for them. Otherwise, I'm happy to stick with what…

I'm not a huge fan of subscriptions but like the way JetBrains handled a few things:

- if you're subscribed for 12 months, you get a perpetual license for the version at the start of that period (unfortunately not the end, but better than most subscriptions)

- fairly significant discounts for second and third+ years.

- they had a price increase either 2022 that was in line or below inflation, which they announced it clearly three months in advance -- no "beware of the leopard" -- and gave users an opportunity to prepurchase three years at the old rates in advance.

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#176

Post by mercwear »

forbiddenvoid wrote: post #164
gkedzierski wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much of that is just "contrarian as a marketing tactic"?

It's exactly that. Jason and DHH have built their entire personal brands on contrarianism. It works for them, but at a certain point it feels inauthentic.

It's 100% not authentic. I have worked directly with one of the two you mentioned and it was an awful experience. The way they treated people around them (both people they knew personally and people at the company I worked with them at) was awful. Based on my experience with them I have never used another 37 signals product.

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#177

Post by Macha »

satvikpendem wrote: post #160
Macha wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't Teams and Slack eaten their market in the intervening time? Even Discord and Matrix are moving into the space. If they're still profitable, it's because they're extracting more money from a shrinking pool of customers. I guess Oracle has shown that can last a while with many of their products, but I'm not sure that's the kind of influence they once had.

Slack and Teams aren't in the same category as Basecamp which is more of a ClickUp, Asana or Monday competitor, ie a project management tool.

Oh I mixed it up with Hipchat for some reason. Turns out Hipchat's not even the same company.

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#178

Post by dingnuts »

jawns wrote: post #72

> Add up your SaaS subscriptions last year. You should own that shit by now. I know a lot of companies are adopting a more irreverent marketing approach, using words that 20 years ago would have been bleeped out. The swear word itself does not offend me. But to me its use here suggests a lack of restraint, and that makes me form a negative opinion about how the business is managed, especially when the words are comin…

meh, "shit" isn't even profane anymore https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/review/nine-nasty-w...

Re: 37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

#180

Post by Gigachad »

znpy wrote: post #120
core-utility wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be more interesting is to compare over 10 years for someone who buys upgrades (CS2->CS3->CS4 etc.) as they come out. Additionally the individual Dreamweaver price is very high compared to "All Apps" plan at $660 per year.

> What would be more interesting is to compare over 10 years for someone who buys upgrades (CS2->CS3->CS4 etc.) as they come out. but nobody does that, really. most people i know skip entire versions of windows (eg: 7->10), let a lone individual software releases.

Which is why subscription software is better for everyone. Everyone is on the latest version.
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