After years with the same company, I'm just starting to re-invent myself as a contractor. So far no one has asked for work in FrameMaker. If they did, I'd have to consider my options. A thousand bucks is a big outlay.
On the other hand, I'd probably want it for no more than a month or two, so locking in for a year doesn't look appealing either. And the point about having something that is mine and just keeps working is well-taken. So I would seriously consider an outright buy, high price notwithstanding, over a rental for a much longer term than I'd need, only to lose the investment. (Why rent when you can buy, right?) But given a choice, I'd just use other tools (OK, not Word). The book model of help delivery seems to be on the wane, and DITA is maturing nicely. . . On 2014-01-17 14:31, Mike Wickham wrote: > Syed, I think your math is right on. I can't understand why anyone > would pay more for a subscription that will render their software > useless the moment they stop paying. If they fall on hard times, the > perpetual license lets them at least keep working with their software > as long as they can keep a compatible operating system on an old > computer. > > If the issue is someone not being able to come up with the upgrade fee > all at once, and a monthly payment sounds more attractive, then they > should consider getting a short term bank loan (or put it on a credit > card) and pay the bank an even smaller monthly payment to buy the > perpetual license. > > And here's another thing, if a company thinks a monthly subscription > is a better to budget, they might also want to think about the resale > value of their company, should they ever want to sell it. A perpetual > license is an asset that can be resold and adds value to a company. A > subscription is future liability that reduces its value. If, as an > individual, they ever want to stop using FrameMaker, they can resell > their personal perpetual license and get some of their money back. Not > so with a subscription. > > I used to buy every upgrade of Creative Suite until it switched to the > Creative Cloud model. Now, CS6 is my last purchase in that line. I > won't pay big money for software that turns off completely if I stop > paying. I've also bought every FM upgrade since version 6, except for > v10, which offered no features that I needed. I will be buying the FM > 12 upgrade for sure. But I will be done buying if FM ever goes to the > subscription-only model. > > Those of you buying subscriptions are making it more and more likely > that the rest of us will lose the perpetual upgrade option in the near > future. If you look at how hard Adobe is trying to get people to buy > subscriptions, you will see that it is their desire to move FrameMaker > to that model. Let's not let them take away our choices. > > Mike > > On 1/17/2014 9:22 AM, Syed Zaeem Hosain (Syed.Hosain at aeris.net) wrote: >> Using an 18 month model, the software subscription for FrameMaker is: >> 18 * 29.99, which is $539.82. >> >> An upgrade is $399 for that same upgrade in that 18 month period, >> right? And then the license is perpetual (at least until Adobe >> abandons this model in the future entirely), so that version keep >> working once somebody stops upgrading (not so in the subscription >> case when cancelled). > > > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to framers as jowens at storm.ca. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/jowens%40storm.ca > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >
