Forum Posts Feed
Subscription as investment
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by Skywatcher
May 10, 2019 at 04:42 PM
Yes to buying updates that I might not even really need, just to encourage the developper. However I usually say no to subscriptions, unless this business model is absolutely justified ( and most of the time it’s not ,for me ).
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
May 10, 2019 at 05:03 PM
I generally try to avoid subscriptions, but I am desperate for a simple Bento database alternative. I am using TapForms now, but it is way more complex than I need, especially since I only need it sporadically, therefore the routines don’t become second nature. That’s why I am going to see what DataOrganizer becomes. Trust me, if there isn’t significant movement toward becoming the app I need after one year, I won’t re-subscribe.
I have to say I expected that the people on this forum would be generous with developers. And I wasn’t wrong.
Steve Z
Posted by Paul Korm
May 10, 2019 at 07:05 PM
The only subscription I have that regularly results in new features is Tinderbox. I think I started the annual payments during v5 and since then v6, v7, and v8, all with sophisticated features, have come along. I trust Mark Bernstein, and have no doubt he will deliver innovation and tell us when he no longer can. (May he live long and prosper.)
In other cases, less so. I paid in advance and was burned on the “Butler 5” scam—it never materialized—and for MailMate 2, which eventually showed up as an apparently perpetual beta. The few times I fell for crowdfunded gizmos on Kickstarter, the things that were ultimately produced were underwhelming. I think the lesson is not “avoid ill-willed developers”—though their being overly confident might be an issue—the lesson is don’t fall for tech bloggers flogging vaporware.
Dellu wrote:
>But, paying for a software just hoping the developer will bring the
>feature I like—sounds a very risky investment.
Posted by Luhmann
May 11, 2019 at 10:10 AM
I bought a lifetime subscription to outlinely for this reason, but I regret it as I think the app will never live up to its potential. Generally I only pay for what I actually use.
Posted by jaslar
May 11, 2019 at 06:50 PM
I’ve done this a lot over the years, paying for software I don’t use just because I want to encourage the development of tools I admire, and acknowledge the work that goes into it. It probably doesn’t provide significant income to the programmers, but maybe it buys them a nice lunch.