I’ve been closely following the WordPress war that broke out a couple of months ago and is still going strong. The whole WPE vs Automattic war of words that has become a high-profile legal case (which Mat/Automattic lost heavily) has been fascinating to keep in touch with. But this post isn’t about any of that ongoing drama.
This thought has been brought about by something I read on the r/Wordpress forum, re subscriptions.
If you have an account with a streaming service and you purchase (for example) a film. You may later decide to stop paying for that streaming service, but the bottom line is you still own that film. You may still access that film on any device that supports that streaming service. This seems logical, yes? Well, now let’s move the conversation into the wacky world of software.
If you have a Microsoft O365 subscription (for example) you are, effectively, paying for something you will never own. If you decide at some stage in the future you want to move to Libre Office and you stop paying for your O365 subscription, that’s it. In the old days you bought a licence for Office products, you owned those products, you downloaded them and you used them in perpetuity or until your machine gave up. But under the subscription model you own nothing and (if you continue with it) you are paying for it for ever.
That’s a super-smart money-making wheeze the software companies have wrapped themselves up in.
It’s not quite that simple. While Microsoft takes that approach, not all vendors do. In some cases you still get to use the software, you just don’t get any new features. “Subscriptions” is an umbrella term that really only refers to the billing arrangement. Even there, differences exist. For example, Adobe charge you monthly but you must commit a year at a time. When it comes to buying or renting software, you need to pay as much attention to what you’re getting as with traditional paid licenses. (Many of which also have odd restrictions.)
They must definitely make more money from subscriptions, rather than the old-fashioned way of actually purchasing the software… else, why would they do it? Large corporations must have to pay a small fortune every month!
Of course, for some people the subscription model works, because they will always have (and want) the latest, up-to-date version. I have family members who lease their cars for that very same reason, changing them every couple of years or so.for a newer model.
Subscription doesn’t work for me though. My PC is loaded with office software, photo editing software, amateur radio software, electronics sofware, family tree software and various bits of computer productivity software… none of which I use regularly enough to warrant a subscription service.
There is plenty of good software out there, available for a reasonable one-off payment or – even better – free, if one is willing to take the time to find it.