> For apps that run locally—no servers, no cloud costs—subscriptions make no sense anymore.
Did it ever make sense? I always scoffed at the idea of paying a subscription to use a text editor or paint tool.
AI is going to kill app subscriptions
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Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#32Good luck making your own clone of "simple" file sharing and synchronization app like Google Drive!
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#33I guess for the author's limited worldview - "apps" are only available through the app stores.
could be an unfortunate thing of the author growing up in an era of gated ecosystems.
however much of the software out there - is via web - and some desktop - some internal use - some external - some shit without ui - some billed yearly, some billed by subscriptions
but I guess tell us how AI is gonna kill subscriptions
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#34Counterpoint, why do current state of the art generative AI companies, with the ability to use models that the public can't even access, and the ability to burn tokens at cost, still pay for very expensive Saas software?
Opportunity cost.
Cloning Slack and wasting ultra-expensive engineers on that might be more expensive, and it's not your core mission.
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#35I’ve been talking about this a lot with founder/coder types in my circle of friends with a wide variety of opinions. My theory as an old guy is that the standards will just go up. There’s a current business model where you can make a basic but useful tool that solves a specific business problem and make money. That’s going to end. We’ve seen this before. A good example would be when the mobile app stores launched and…
That's what I think will happen. Not just standards but taste and design as well. I think there's almost even more demand for good designers now than ever before.
Why? VERY good design signals this is tasteful and quality. Not an AI-slop-vibe-mess.
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#36Counterpoint, why do current state of the art generative AI companies, with the ability to use models that the public can't even access, and the ability to burn tokens at cost, still pay for very expensive Saas software?
Addendum to counterpoint: why haven't those SotA gen-AI companies become the most productive software companies on earth, and release better and cheaper competitors to all currently popular software?
People always gripe about the poor quality of software staples like Microsoft Office or GitHub or Slack. Why hasn't OpenAI or Anthropic released a superior office suite or code hosting platform or enterprise chat? It would be both a huge cash cow and the best possible advertising that AI-facilitated software development is truly the real deal 10x force multiplier they claim.
If someone invents a special shovel that can magically identify ore deposits 100% of the time, they aren't going to sell it with the rest of the shovelmongers. They're going to keep it to themselves and actually mine gold.
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#37I think the options are:
1. Local models or token cost plummets
2. Subscriptions more prevalent, given token costs
3. A single subscription (tokens) to rule them all
4. Apps with use-based pricing
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#38> For apps that run locally—no servers, no cloud costs—subscriptions make no sense anymore. Did it ever make sense? I always scoffed at the idea of paying a subscription to use a text editor or paint tool.
It never made sense, it was just possible to get away with it because there's often been no alternative for many people.
Good riddance to software subscriptions.
I hope proprietary software goes the same way entirely. If it's trivial to build an open source competitor, why pay for software can't modify (also trivially).
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#39I guess for the author's limited worldview - "apps" are only available through the app stores. could be an unfortunate thing of the author growing up in an era of gated ecosystems. however much of the software out there - is via web - and some desktop - some internal use - some external - some shit without ui - some billed yearly, some billed by subscriptions but I guess tell us how AI is gonna kill subscriptions
Actually I've been making several webapps with AI lately, for things I've always wished for and can now selfhost.
At one point I had an idea I brought to AI, got ready to code it, then said "wait, someone has to have done this before me", sure enough, found it, written with warp!
So I can't say it'll kill all app subscriptions, but AI is definitely enabling people to finally make reality out of that idea they've had rattling around their heads but never took the time to realise.
Re: AI is going to kill app subscriptions
#40Surely unless you are building your own models, and running them locally, you still have to pay OpenAi/Anthropic/Google etc for the API usage?
And even if you do build your own models, unless they run locally on the device, you still need to pay for hosting?