I've grown weary of subscriptions. But I also think people who don't want to pay monthly would definitely be opposed to paying the equivalent one-time purchase.
Remember, Adobe Photoshop was like $500+ before they made it available via subscription.
When I used it, it was $300 IIRC. And I happily paid that price, knowing it would work for me for years to come.
In the same vain, I paid $200 for Logic Pro X three years ago and it still does what I paid for. I’m about to spend $300 on Final Cut Pro.
If Logic Pro went subscription only at, say, Photoshop prices at $20/mo, that would be the equivalent of $720 so far. Even though Logic is seriously awesome, I would not pay it and just go with something else.
Edit: the $20/mo is the price only if you pay for a whole year. Otherwise it’s actually $31.50 per month. So you are either paying a lump sum of $240 (committing to a full year) or $31.50/month.
I will not do software subscriptions at any price for a number of reasons, but the primary two are: it's good avoid any fixed, recurring expenses wherever possible; and I don't want software that I use heavily to stop working when the company decides to drop it, and I don't want software I use heavily to change without my agreeing to it and it happening on my schedule.
Also, long-term, the subscription costs more.
I would much rather pay $500 for software once than pay an ongoing fee that totals the same amount.
If you pay $500 for Photoshop, and then never upgrade it, then that's $500. Even if you're using Photoshop 5 from 1998. If it's subscription, and you pay $20/month, you always get the latest version, but you'll hit break even in just over two years. The problem comes when life throws a couple lemons your way, and money gets tight. Something like upgrading Photoshop can be put off until there's money for it, because other things, like food or gas, comes first. If times are tough and the $20 that month means going hungry some nights, that's a rough fucking situation.
Comments
I've grown weary of subscriptions. But I also think people who don't want to pay monthly would definitely be opposed to paying the equivalent one-time purchase.
Remember, Adobe Photoshop was like $500+ before they made it available via subscription.
When I used it, it was $300 IIRC. And I happily paid that price, knowing it would work for me for years to come.
In the same vain, I paid $200 for Logic Pro X three years ago and it still does what I paid for. I’m about to spend $300 on Final Cut Pro.
If Logic Pro went subscription only at, say, Photoshop prices at $20/mo, that would be the equivalent of $720 so far. Even though Logic is seriously awesome, I would not pay it and just go with something else.
Edit: the $20/mo is the price only if you pay for a whole year. Otherwise it’s actually $31.50 per month. So you are either paying a lump sum of $240 (committing to a full year) or $31.50/month.
I still use Photoshop CS3. It doesn't support retina and the dialogs are super grainy. I pray with each OS update that it continues working.
I will not do software subscriptions at any price for a number of reasons, but the primary two are: it's good avoid any fixed, recurring expenses wherever possible; and I don't want software that I use heavily to stop working when the company decides to drop it, and I don't want software I use heavily to change without my agreeing to it and it happening on my schedule.
Also, long-term, the subscription costs more.
I would much rather pay $500 for software once than pay an ongoing fee that totals the same amount.
If you pay $500 for Photoshop, and then never upgrade it, then that's $500. Even if you're using Photoshop 5 from 1998. If it's subscription, and you pay $20/month, you always get the latest version, but you'll hit break even in just over two years. The problem comes when life throws a couple lemons your way, and money gets tight. Something like upgrading Photoshop can be put off until there's money for it, because other things, like food or gas, comes first. If times are tough and the $20 that month means going hungry some nights, that's a rough fucking situation.