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37signals Introduces "Once" - Buy software one time

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

#51

Post by pb7 »

eldaisfish wrote: post #23
pelagicAustral wrote: post #14

Sounds good, but I mean, it's just pros and cons with the SaaS model, or with the pay-once... Before SaaS there used to be a massive pool of native apps, doing all kinds of different things... You indeed paid your license and lived with the product until the next major version, but there was little chance to just use something for a month or two, so the prices were higher. With SaaS you do end up renting stuff all ov…

This doesn’t address a major gripe with the subscription model - taking away the option to purchase software outright. Were both to exist, we would not be having this discussion. In reality, corporations are driven by greed and greed pushed the subscription model. For some situations, subscriptions work well - music is one. For others, it is terrible. CAD software is a great example especially at larger orgs. Why sho…

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.

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

#52

Post by alfalfasprout »

northerdome wrote: post #41

They didn't actually launch anything though. And self-hosting is also a real pain. There can be reasons but I seriously doubt many IT departments yearn deeply for the on-premise deployment days of yore.

This. People seem to forget that employee time costs $$$$. You take on a lot more operational burden and that has a real cost attached to it and in organizations of all sizes that makes the calculus interesting.

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

#57

Post by commoner »

turnsout wrote: post #28

Man, talk about a ship that has sailed. I was 100% anti-subscription pricing for a very long time. Eventually I realized, it's better for the software vendor and the customer. Final Cut Pro used to cost $999 upfront, now a teenager can use Final Cut on their iPad for $7/month, and subscribe only when they need it.

That's not a fair comparison. Final Cut Pro's price on macOS has been $299.99 since 2011, and Apple sells a "Pro Apps Bundle for Education" available to everyone that includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and other macOS apps for $199.99 (https://www.apple.com/us-edu/shop/product/BMGE2Z/A/pro-apps-...).

I'm sure a lot of users would appreciate a one-time payment option for Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro on the iPad, including teenagers who have some money saved up.

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

#58

Post by satvikpendem »

Consumers often talk about one-time payments but balk at the prices that are required to have them while also being able to have the devs pay for their expenses. For example, look at this recent r/apple thread [0], the dev made the perpetual license 2.5x the annual license, which makes sense from a ARPU perspective, but people don't want to pay 70 dollars, even though tools like YouNeedABudget are more expensive.

The psychological impact of one-time purchases cannot be removed from the decision and that is also likely why SaaS is so enticing, the prices are much lower in the short term, but can be higher in the long term, just like getting a loan vs paying in full would be.

[0] https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/168shog/after_almost...

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

#59

Post by voz_ »

registeredcorn wrote: post #42
eldaisfish wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn’t address a major gripe with the subscription model - taking away the option to purchase software outright. Were both to exist, we would not be having this discussion. In reality, corporations are driven by greed and greed pushed the subscription model. For some situations, subscriptions work well - music is one. For others, it is terrible. CAD software is a great example especially at larger orgs. Why sho…

I agree with the majority of what you wrote, but I'm utterly confused by this statement > For some situations, subscriptions work well - music is one. I've only ever purchased albums. Why in the world would I pay a monthly fee for something I presumably want to listen for for the rest of my life? 10-15$ for a one time purchase is far preferable to a monthly fee of nearly the same. I'm also weary of the idea of the se…

Spotify is, let’s say, $120 a year. After 10 years, let’s say $1200. If an album has 5 songs, and an album costs $12.00 (dunno, middle of your range plus easy math), you can buy 100 albums in that time. 500 songs.

After 500 songs for 10 years, your model costs more and offers no value (in fact, it’s less convenient for a dozen reasons)

I don’t know about you, but I listen to way more than 500 songs… a year. Let alone a decade.

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

#60

Post by markstos »

gwbas1c wrote: post #43

Let's go back to wax cylinders, horses & buggies, and the old crank phone while we're at it! Jokes aside: What kind of new features and tangible improvements are coming? I get that "owning" a piece of software can have tangible value; but it depends on the purpose of the software and how it's used. I don't see a sudden revolution where all companies decide they want to run their own email servers and and host their o…

You do GIS projects infrequently as a hobby. Simple stuff. You want own some GIS software. Subscription is burdensome due to infrequent use and you don’t care about next year’s features.
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