You miss on that, that even smaller Devs have the advantage of the App-Stores, and the worldwide distribution. So they do not only sell their product in January, but during the whole year, and a lot of them not only a few, but hundreds of thousand copies.
That makes a huge difference to other business models and jobs!
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I guess I wasnāt clear. I was referring to having to support non-subscription sofware.
Iāve always tried to support developers and used to send money to shareware devs. I was explaining why I accept the subscription model.
When I was much younger I wanted to purchase an airplane. I had the money to buy one but learned I did not the income to own one. Insurance, maintenance, required inspections, hanger rental, etc. were more than I could afford. I learned when I purchase something I also need to consider the cost of ownership.
A dev selling an app is just like Apple selling a Mac. And in both cases the seller sets the price and the terms and I can agree to both or walk away. We are lucky, software is much more affordable today than it was when I purchased my first computer in the ā80s. I spend more on entertainment each month than I do on software each year.
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Fair enough. I occasionally also accept it as well for developers I appreciate (did an Overcast subscription for example).
Yep. Usually I do not even try software that has a monthly cost. Just having a monthly or annual fee puts me off. More a psychological thing of yet another monthly expense as opposed to a finished transaction.
Indeed. With software the real price is also the time you invest to make it work (I think I read it somewhere in this forum).
That is true. '80s was before my time, but in relation to other goods/services it is not that much money for a single piece of software. They can add up thoughā¦
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Of course you was clear!
They sell 20.000 licenses in January, 20.000 in February, 20.000 in March and so on!
And the year after that, they sell āthe totally updated Version 2.0ā and so on.
This is a continuously working market, and once they have a Version online, they could concentrate on the improvements and Updates.
To have a selling software on your portfolio, is like printing Greenbacks, and this continuously the whole year around.
And while the sold Version is often even much more expensive than the monthly or yearly subscription, they are making good money with this, too!
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It is all about cost. If the software is too expensive for what it does in the time frame that the subscription applies- I donāt buy it. If I have to subscribe ,or the software stops working - I donāt buy it. I like the models where I can pay for an upgrade but my software still keeps working (albeit with limited support)- I feel less trapped. I dislike disingenuous pricingā¦costs are given per month, but the software can only be purchased of a year at a time. As for coffee cost pricing , I do not drink coffee, pay ridiculous costs for cable, my restaurant use is infrequent and my cars are old.
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Iāll bet I know what you were going to say. 
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You do not have to bet, just click onto the little pencilā¦ 
An innocuous accidental reply about another post, perhaps?
Press the icon on the top right to know, rather than to presume.
Iām down to a few subscriptions for Apple software / services.
- Fastmail
- 1Password
- ICloud storage
- Apple Match
I tried stopping Fastmail but their server side rules engine and a few other features are valuable to me , especially for only $5 usd / month!
Some notable omissions from the hosts that have been mentioned previously are TextExpander (which ironically sponsored this very episode) and Ulysses which both have talked about before.
If I subscribe to an app there is no guarantee that there will be any significant updates. Make the upgrade worth purchasing. Problem solved.
Yes, but I get to drive the car for as long as I can. I donāt need to keep paying to use the car.
And there is a warranty to fix anything that goes wrong for, albeit for a set period.
And I can decide if the new features warrant purchasing a new car.
There is no reason that software needs to be treated differently than any other purchase.
Iām not employing a software developer, just like Iām not employing a car company. Iām making a purchase. It is not my responsibility to completely fund either. It is up to the developer to make a product that sells. It is not some charity I need to support.
The only time a subscription is valid is if there are ongoing costs to the developer for the use of the software. Anything else is just extortion. āIt would be a shame if you lost access to that data ā¦ so pay upā.
BBEdit. PCalc. NeoFinder. Graphic Converter. VueScan. All apps Iāve paid for. All apps that are (IIRC) over 20 years old. None of which are subscription. Maybe developing long lasting quality software doesnāt require a subscription after all.
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This business model is not supported in the App Store. You can argue that its fine on Mac Os but when an app works on all platforms then this model needs to be supported in the app store.
Thatās not my problem. Thatās between the developers and Apple.
And I agree, it sucks for the developer. And this model needs to be made available on an app store for I-devices. Be that from Apple or someone else.
And in a way it is supported. Iāve purchased āthe sameā app on the App Store on several occasions. āChronologyā (a sequential timer app) is one example. The prior version was discontinued and a new app was available in its place. Non optimal to say the least.
Launching a new app confuses more normal people than you imagine. The first question in that case is why and WTF I have to do this.
I can also say successful software does require a subscription also.
I agree completely. This is a problem of Appleās making. And they appear to be addicted to the recurring 30/15% cut. Until that is fixed, developers are screwed.
But it is not my responsibility to support them.
The difference is software needs support. And currently, IMO, many developers cannot charge enough for an app to justify supporting it for āover 20 yearsā. So some have moved to subscriptions, others to electron and/or web applications for cross platform sales, etc. If this keeps up the number of native apps may continue to decline.
A difference without a difference.
Just this week I needed support from:
- my credit card company.
- my bank.
- the company that I bought my hedge clipper from for a recall notice.
- Winnebago for a recall notice.
- Lowes for a lumber purchase.
- a state park where I was going camping.
- my eye doctor.
- a tour company for an upcoming trip to Madagascar.
- Delta airlines for a flight change.
- my oil heat company.
All different businesses. All providing support. None charging a subscription.
Business didnāt change because the product is software.
That is not my problem. I repeat, that is not my problem. They need to figure it out.
And clearly it can be done. And note those have had paid upgrades. And I have paid, because the app provides value to me.
And I have plenty of other non-subscription apps from developers which have been doing just fine for many years.
It is a flawed argument that I as a purchaser of a product need to continue to cover the costs of the company doing business after the purchase, given that there are numerous software companies that do just fine without subscriptions. And that every other business, which have the same costs, or even more due to the physical nature of their products (inventory, shipping, returns, warehousing, etc.), do fine without subscriptions.
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I think a lot of them are figuring it out, which is why we are seeing more developers moving to subscriptions.
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Yeah, no. Nice try though.
I canāt say it any plainer:
It is not my responsibility that your business succeed. And attempting to shift that burden to me via subscription is straight up bullshit.
And it is a burden I will not accept.
But you are welcome to accept that burden.
Cheers.
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