Aside that, I am wondering why software subscription article placed under political news
Because to many of us, it's a political position.
If this provokes faster updates and more features then I'm all for it. I think a £300 value has been great for the last however many years.. but I am not bothered about paying for something that is a critical business tool that would give me more features/stability ultimately leading to more profitability.
Fixed it for you!
Glad that I went with DtaVinci Resolve.
Interesting!
And the landslide of predictable comments begins...
I insist that all these subscriptions PREVENT people from becoming millionaires. Why do I bring this up? Because I want EVERYBODY on this thread to have a chance at becoming a millionaire. It's because of the love in my heart, of course.
Interesting tidbit: There are 10 million millionaires in the US. In a country of 350 million, that is 2% of the population.
Another interesting tidbit: The 3rd most frequent millionaire is (wait for it) "teacher".
Millionaires are NOT who you think they are. They didn't inherit their riches. Mostly they are not doctors or lawyers. They are everyday people who've lived in your neighborhood and bought used cars all their lives. They don't use credit cards for the "miles". Nobody ever got rich on American Express miles card. Oh and they avoid subscriptions. (that last one by me, because I don't need a study to know this is true)
Other interesting tidbits can be found in the book, "Everyday Millionaires" by Chris Hogan, available on Amazon and anywhere you might be tempted to buy a book. I'm not affiliated in any way; it's just an excellent book backed by the largest study of millionaires ever done (over 10,000).
We already have one. Its called paying taxes.
We have a lot of things that operate like subscriptions:
Real subscriptions, such as magazines, paid-for podcasts, music streaming services, teevee access like cable or satellite.
Things that might as well BE subscriptions, such as your electric, water, sewage, internet, phone (if you still have a land line or even a VOIP service), your "home appliance warranty", if you bought one of those, all of your software, access to that guitar training site, what you pay to other training sites, what you pay to your kids' tutors or music teachers, that car extended warranty service you bought last year in the hopes that it'll pay for your transmission when it finally falls out of your car (hint: It won't pay for it!), and that monthly fee you pay to the health club, your pool cleaning service, your air conditioner guy's "family value plan", and that car wash down the street that has the gonads to charge $17 for a single wash so as to coax you into paying $24 monthly.
Almost everything you do is a subscription.
We must fight this. We must be vigilant, and the way to do that is to budget our money and be willing to sacrifice and do without so that we can be financially successful in life. Because if we're not, we will be forever poor, living paycheck to paycheck, with nothing left for kids' college, a rainy day, a financial emergency, or a new car or house.
One subscription that definitely is a better value than purchase is (IMHO) Microsoft 365....
I have that too, but even at $100 per year, I'm not so convinced yet that it's worth the money on my home machines, mostly because it lies unused! Next year, I may move to a free office product.
One side effect of this, if Apple doesn‘t like the politics on the things you are producing they have the ability to pull your “subscription”.
This is a genuine concern. "Cancel Culture" is a real thing, and a lot people are using it to ruin other people's lives, all for just having a disagreement on policy or personal views. This alone is a great reason to reduce subscriptions.
Everyone complaining here keep in mind you used to have to buy upgrades every year to keep up, was basically a janky subscription model with the illusion of choice — yes you could just keep your version as is but then also get left behind...
It's only a subscription model if you buy each new version without questioning whether it's worth it.
I don't buy every version of the Apple Watch, or the iPhone. And although I've bought the last 3 versions of Ableton Live, I've arrived at each of those decisions with intentionality, and only after due consideration. So it's NOT a subscription model.
Apple switched to buy once, update free for life, which was awesome. But I’ve been getting free updates of FCPX for seven years now. That model seems unsustainable to me.
Bear in mind that Apple's hardware is hideously expensive. The reason it was always justifiable was the lower cost on software.
But now iPad software has all subscriptions. Now we're talking about making Mac software all subscription. If the hardware doesn't come down in price, my reasons for wanting a 16" MBP will evaporate, and I'll just do another upgrade on my Windows machines.
Apple has total control here. If they don't adjust the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) to accommodate subscriptions, then they'll effectively strangle themselves.
I'm sure that in the short run companies make more money this way, but...(followed by A LOT OF WORDS)
OMG, dude, paragraphs, please!
As a photographer, I was against Adobe and doing the subscription, now I don't really care. It is what it is.
You're talking about a $10 bill. I call "blindside" on you for that, because Adobe has effectively kept me OUT of their ecosystem by charging an arm, a leg, and three teeth for their whole suite. I say this with love: "eff that!"
Yeah that's what I meant.
Apple has to continually develop and support their software. Paying their employees and whatnot.
So why should a person be able to buy the software once... and then use it for the rest of their lives? That doesn't seem fair to the developer.
At least in the old days the customer would buy software and then pay again for upgrades every so often. Not everyone would upgrade each time... but the developer would get some more income after a while.
But with subscriptions... the developers is getting regular recurring income.
Not if "subscription only" is the only available option, and certainly not if that subscription prices people out of their ecosystem, which is what Adobe is doing with Creative Cloud.
...subscription worked for Adobe because their whole apps where expensive to begin with...
There's always a segment, and I think it's sizeable, who will avoid subscription software just on principle. I'm one of us!