What happens if you lose your job and you can no longer afford to pay subscriptions for software you need? For example, if you want to use word to update your resume, you would need to keep paying for the subscription to office.
Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 17, 2017, at 9:53 AM, Scott Granados <scott.grana...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Most definitely this is the new model. Any major applications will be hosted > in the cloud, especially as end devices become more and more optimized for > network cloud access. People will have different models but in the end the > end user will be paying for the use of rather than the ownership of software. > Whether the company makes money on your data like a Google or charges you > directly you pay for it. You get a much more robust experience though so I > like the model my self. > > Microsoft is a good example of this. I like the fact office is upgraded > mainly because accessibility is something that’s improving. I like the fast > update cycle. Some use what’s called the agile software methodology which > calls for weekly or even daily updates. This model lends itself well to this > type of development. > We all seem to forget when software was 3, 4 or 5 figures up front and > then there was a support fee on top usually yearly. Give me a single > subscription anyway. > >> On Aug 16, 2017, at 9:52 PM, M. Taylor <mk...@ucla.edu> wrote: >> >> 9to5Mac - Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 6:41 AM >> Opinion: Are subscription-based apps the future, or will they implode? >> >> The decision of the popular writing app Ulysses to switch from a one-off >> purchase to a monthly or annual subscription has attracted a great deal of >> criticism. Here's a sprinkling of views from the comments. >> Subscribe to a text editor? I'm out. >> I bought this on iOS last week. As far as I'm concerned, that was a total >> waste of money now they're moving to this subscription model. >> This "rent your software" crap needs to stop, and people need to stop >> defending it. >> Ulysses is a great app and I wish the developers all the best, but I'm out, >> looking for alternatives. >> Read: "Popular iOS and Mac writing app Ulysses Digs Its Own Grave and Gets >> In" >> The company, of course, has its own rationale . >> >> We want to make sure the app will be around for years and years to come. We >> want to heavily invest in its development, and this requires the right >> setting for our team, our families and our users. Writers want to rely on a >> professional tool that is constantly evolving, and we want to keep >> delivering just that. >> The company says that anyone who bought the app when it first launched has >> now received nine major updates at no cost, and that this isn't sustainable. >> And, of course, Ullysses isn't the only app to have switched to a >> subscription model - nor the only company to come under fire for doing so. >> The highest-profile example is Adobe. The company first started offering its >> subscription-based Creative Cloud service back in 2012. At that point, users >> could choose between buying individual apps, buying packages - or signing-up >> to a monthly or annual subscription. >> But just a year later, the company announced that it would no longer sell >> its Creative Suite software outright, and that the only way to get the >> latest versions would be via subscription. Even for apps you could still buy >> outright, you didn't get the same functionality as the subscription version. >> We're seeing the same trend everywhere. Right now, you can still buy >> individual TV shows and movies, but iTunes popularized the idea of renting >> them instead, and companies like Netflix take things further with a fixed >> monthly subscription for all-you-can-eat streaming access. >> And, of course, Apple Music now gives us the option of renting, rather than >> owning, our music. >> >> The idea of renting rather than owning isn't without its benefits, of >> course. Developers get a steady stream of income, which enables them to keep >> updating apps and adding new features, while users get access at a more >> affordable up-front cost. >> And for some apps and services, it makes sound financial sense. Take music >> as an example. Back in the days when the only option was to buy albums, many >> of us spent thousands - sometimes tens of thousands - of dollars over the >> years. A young person today can lay out ten bucks a month and get instant >> access to more music than any of us will ever own in our lifetimes. Having a >> $10 cost of entry to almost all the music commercially available is quite an >> incredible thing. If I were starting out today, I honestly don't know >> whether I'd choose to own any music. >> In software, Adobe was able to get away with it for much the same reason. >> Outright purchase of a suite of its apps could again cost thousands, and you >> knew it was only a matter of time before you'd need to pay to upgrade to the >> latest version. Indeed, many photographers found themselves forced to >> upgrade when they bought a new camera as the RAW converter for it would only >> be available for the latest version of Lightroom. An affordable monthly fee >> was a decent alternative. >> In TV and movies, renting rather than owning can again save you money. Many >> have dispensed with traditional TV packages, and buying movies outright, and >> instead pay just $8-12 per month for a Netflix subscription. Provided the >> shows you want are available, that's a great deal. >> Some people even effectively choose to rent their iPhone. In the old days, >> you did this as a hidden cost in your carrier's plan, now you can do it >> through Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program. That's again a way of turning a >> large lump-sum payment into a more manageable monthly one. >> But there are, I think, four reasons why many of us feel reluctant to switch >> from outright purchase of apps to a subscription model. >> >> The first is purely psychological. We're used to paying a one-off fee, with >> maybe an occasional and optional major update fee some years down the road, >> and that being it. The idea of instead being forced to lay out cash every >> month for continued access to an app feels somehow wrong. Many feel they are >> being taken advantage of, especially if it's an app they've used for years >> and come to rely on. >> The second is the lifetime cost. I can't even remember now what I paid for >> my three versions of Lightroom, but from memory the last one I bought - >> Lightroom 3 - cost me about $150 back in 2011. I'm still using it today. If >> I'd instead been paying $9.99/month, that same app would by now have cost me >> $720 - and counting. Sure, the subscription includes updates, but the >> version I have does everything I need. >> Third, there's the sheer weight of a growing number of monthly payments. It >> used to be that we had a mortgage or rent, a car payment, our household >> bills and maybe a loan payment. But these days, it seems everyone wants to >> charge us a monthly fee for everything. Each of them may be individually >> small - $5 here, $10 there - but they add up. In a still-difficult economy, >> when many want to reduce their fixed outgoings, more and more companies seem >> determined to add to them. >> Finally, there's the discomfort may of us feel with recurring payments in >> general. It's all too easy to sign up for something - be it a free trial or >> a service we use for a while - and then forget to cancel. We all have apps >> cluttering up our devices that we haven't used in ages. If those apps were >> charging us a monthly fee, we could well be paying not to use them. >> The first objection may be merely a case of getting used to a different >> model, but the others are, in my view, substantive reasons to dislike >> subscriptions. >> >> I do, of course, see the developer viewpoint. The money we spend on an app >> pays for the work they did up to the point at which we bought it. The work >> needed to update it to keep it compatible with later versions of iOS and >> macOS, and to add new features, is effectively only covered by the revenue >> from new customers. Unless they can keep growing their market, they can't >> cover the ongoing development costs. >> But a subscription isn't the only way to do this. To use another popular >> writing app as an example, Scrivener provides dot updates free - paid for by >> the income from new customers - and charges for major updates. Paid updates >> are very infrequent. Scrivener 2 was released more than six years ago, and >> Scrivener 3.0 will again be a paid update later this year. >> I don't begrudge those paid updates in the slightest. If they are infrequent >> (say every 2-3 years at most), cost less than buying from scratch and are >> justified by new features, I will smile as I hand over the cash. In the case >> of Scrivener, it's an app I couldn't live without, and it's clear that a >> huge amount of work has gone into the upcoming version. >> To my mind, that's the better approach. It's less expensive. You can see >> what you're getting for your money. And you don't feel exploited because >> upgrading is optional - you can pay for the new features if you want them, >> and not if you don't. (Granted there may be times when an iOS or macOS >> upgrade will break an app, but those are optional too.) >> I can't help feeling that the whole subscription model is at some point >> going to implode. Some people will simply refuse to get on board at all - >> like those who say they are done with Ulysses - while others will eventually >> reach breaking point. One or two low-cost subscription apps, well, ok, >> maybe. But what happens when it's ten? Twenty? At some point, people are >> going to say enough is enough. >> Do you agree? Or do you think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks? As ever, >> please take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments. >> >> Original Article at: >> http://9to5mac.com/2017/08/16/opinion-subscription-based-apps-future-implode >> / >> >> >> -- >> The following information is important for all members of the Mac >> Visionaries list. >> >> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if >> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or >> moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >> >> Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. 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If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: macvisionaries+modera...@googlegroups.com and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
