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Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#391

Post by coldtea »

solardev wrote: post #126
thot_experiment wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the heck subscription models are you using? In my experience the software gets broken over time and you can't do anything about it, including RUN THE OLD VERSION WHICH WORKED. There's no longer as much incentive for companies to improve because they'll get paid anyway instead of payment being contingent on actually delivering something useful. Yes subscription models are good for developers, no this doesn't make…

Not the OP, but I have to disagree too. Creative Cloud, IntelliJ, Figma, Google Workspace, Postman, Spotify, Vercel, Adguard, Google storage space, Alltrails, 1password.. They're all subscriptions and getting better all the time. Meanwhile it's the old purchased software like Windows and Office that get worse with every version.

You've mixed subscription based services (Google storage space) and content (Spotify) with subscription based software.

For services, it might make sense. Even so, what exactly is "getting better all the time" about Spotify the software? It's been the same for like 5 years now.

As for the rest: 1Password declined (turned to Electron shit), Creative Cloud keeps adding bloat while not adressing decades standing issues, IntelliJ is, I guess OK, Figma I don't use so can't tell.

And I know (even use) many more software that turned into subscriptions and now sit on their asses or deliver minimum value - and of course will stop working the moment you had enough with their lack of progress end your subscription.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#392

Post by yucky »

crazygringo wrote: post #40

Not really, because I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version -- the ownership model of software can be awfully feast-or-famine for developers' income, it's a very tough/risky business model. Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the compa…

   > Not to mention that a yearly subscription is cheaper than buying outright
This is false. Software companies aren't switching to subscription models to make less money.

    > the idea of "owning" software feels positively archaic to me, as strange as "owning" a music album.
This is so non-sensical I'm going to assume it's a typo.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#393

Post by oblib »

I released my first "SaaS" back in 2002. It's always been a "web app". And, yeah, as I've developed new features and made structural changes I've introduced bugs that had to be found and squashed.

But it's gotten a lot better over those years as web tech and my skills have progressed and users have influenced what I worked on since that first release. I have users that have been using it for most all of those years now and consider them friends.

I made a version that runs offline. The user has to install CouchDB on their desktop pc to use it. I made it easy for them to set up and explained the benefits, and I thought they were huge, but no one wanted to do that.

I've also had users who stopped using it call me a year or more later asking if I could send them their data, and I could, and did, and didn't charge them anything because it's a trivial task. They were very grateful.

So, no. I don't really think about it that way. But I'm old. I can recall the days of getting excited when a magazine I paid to subscribe to showed up in my mailbox and walking to the local library to find a book to bring home and read.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#394

Post by jimkleiber »

JohnFen wrote: post #374
jimkleiber wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been exploring a pay what you want model for a subscription. Would you prefer something like this? Or more about just putting in more options for selecting based on one's usage? something else?

The issue with subscriptions for me is unrelated to the price. All subscriptions are bad. They require constant budgeting and attention. They usually come with forced upgrades, or a forced cloud component. They make it too easy to get nickel and dimed to death. If I can't pay a one-time price for the software, it's a nonstarter. I'm totally fine with paying for updates later, as long as I'm not forced into them.

What about a subscription that doesn't auto-renew? So if you want to continue to use it, you pay again?

Or does that still frustrate you because you want to "own" it rather than "rent" it?

If you're answer is yes, that's ok with me, just curious :-)

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#395

Post by smrtinsert »

solardev wrote: post #126
thot_experiment wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the heck subscription models are you using? In my experience the software gets broken over time and you can't do anything about it, including RUN THE OLD VERSION WHICH WORKED. There's no longer as much incentive for companies to improve because they'll get paid anyway instead of payment being contingent on actually delivering something useful. Yes subscription models are good for developers, no this doesn't make…

Not the OP, but I have to disagree too. Creative Cloud, IntelliJ, Figma, Google Workspace, Postman, Spotify, Vercel, Adguard, Google storage space, Alltrails, 1password.. They're all subscriptions and getting better all the time. Meanwhile it's the old purchased software like Windows and Office that get worse with every version.

I only pay for intellij which I consider to be essential. The rest are replaceable with compromise or not worth it to me.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#396

Post by jacooper »

strix_varius wrote: post #303
correct-me-plz wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could consider https://kagi.com/ for a subscription-based, ad-free search. I've been using it for a few months and haven't had a case where the Google results were superior.

I tried Kagi for a couple of weeks and the results were painfully inferior to Google's. I was really hoping they'd be good.

Maybe brave search can help?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#397

Post by Gigachad »

lapcat wrote: post #373
Gigachad wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most physical products don't require constant work to be done. Software will mostly stop working properly if not updated.

Why wouldn't it be updated? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34043936

There aren’t always new customers to sell to. When your system requires on constant growth to not collapse, it isn’t sustainable. A Ponzi scheme is the closest way I can describe it but I wouldn’t say it’s fraud since you weren’t promised future updates. You just implicitly require and expect them.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#398

Post by usrusr »

jonwest wrote: post #147
solardev wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the OP, but I have to disagree too. Creative Cloud, IntelliJ, Figma, Google Workspace, Postman, Spotify, Vercel, Adguard, Google storage space, Alltrails, 1password.. They're all subscriptions and getting better all the time. Meanwhile it's the old purchased software like Windows and Office that get worse with every version.

Do you feel as though Windows as a SaaS would be better? At least as a consumer I have a choice to say “I’d rather not upgrade to Windows 11 and get the worse experience” and not just login and see that those changes that I wouldn’t have upgraded for have just been pushed down as it happens with a SaaS. Windows, as an example, is an interesting one in that you’re paying once for a license and it’s good more or less i…

I'm convinced that it would be better: the reason for worse every version is that they try to cram every major full of "revolutionary new features" nobody asked for. Because back in the day updates were a major revenue stream but only with headline features. I'd gladly pay for a 64 bit w2k

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#400

Post by porknubbins »

crazygringo wrote: post #40

Not really, because I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version -- the ownership model of software can be awfully feast-or-famine for developers' income, it's a very tough/risky business model. Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the compa…

How old are you that the idea of owning a copy of music is strange? Do you feel same way about books? I still buy albums and books that I consider particularly excellent.
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