3 ms·

Quite obviously biased and overstated. Many subscription models have nothing to do with tricking people or making it hard to cancel and many customers of those

by sambe 10y ago

Quite obviously biased and overstated. Many subscription models have nothing to do with tricking people or making it hard to cancel and many customers of those continue to pay knowingly and willingly and appreciate the convenience of agreeing to this up-front instead of manually renewing multiple services each month. For example, my water provider. My Netflix subscription. You cannot just ignore this because it doesn't fit your model. The immorality is the trickery, not the subscription.

veidr 10y ago
> many customers of those continue to pay knowingly and willingly and appreciate the convenience Yes, I fully agree. > Many subscription models have nothing to do with tricking people I don't agree with this, at least for auto-renewing subscriptions; that's my point. Every piece of software sold on auto-renewing subscription has some significant number of subscribers (as a percentage of its total number of them) that don't actually want it. That is true regardless of what the publisher intends or wants. Obviously, the exact percentage will vary a great deal, depending on the product. Water is an example of something where that percentage would be low — presumably, almost everybody wants their water to stay on. Netflix, not so much; I myself once paid for Netflix for months, perhaps years, without using it once, and without wanting to keep it on "just in case". I was just too busy to cancel it the few times I thought of it (until I finally did). Netflix is not on the sleazier side of the spectrum, though; it's quite easy to cancel. There are, however, a lot more disgusting sleazy fuckers out there like the Wall Street Journal, MyFico.com, and Comcast, than there are Netflixes. P.S. As a bonus, here's my Second Law of Subscriptiodynamics: The total difficulty in cancelling an isolated auto-renewing subscription always increases over time.
- Xylakant 10y ago
  > I don't agree with this, at least for auto-renewing subscriptions; that's my point. Every piece of software sold on auto-renewing subscription has some significant number of subscribers (as a percentage of its total number of them) that don't actually want it. Some SaaS providers make unused subscriptions free of charge (Slack AFAIR), others auto-cancel them after a period of inactivity. This obviously only works if the provider has knowledge of whether a subscription is used, but it shows that the flaw is not inherent with subscriptions. Other than that: I have quite a couple of pieces of software that I bought at pretty much full price and never really used. Is that immoral as well?
  - veidr 10y ago
    Detecting non-use and waiving all charges in that case? That not only nullifies all moral/ethical/assholiness problems with the subscription model, it is practically heroic. But, I don't think that's very common.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >that don't actually want it. Why is it the company's responsibility to determine if a user "really wants it" or not? If the subscription is live, the assumption is that the service is desired. Personal accountability.
  - veidr 10y ago
    Totally, bro!!! BTW, can I interest you in a franchise opportunity? We at "Veidr's Payday Loans" are always looking for local owner-operators who understand "personal accountability".
    - forgetsusername 10y ago
      >Totally, bro!!! So edgy. I don't understand your point. If you're incapable of cancelling a subscription...maybe you shouldn't be subscribing to things? But that's up to you, bro; don't count on others to do it for you.

by sambe 10y ago

veidr 10y ago

> many customers of those continue to pay knowingly and willingly and appreciate the convenience Yes, I fully agree. > Many subscription models have nothing to do with tricking people I don't agree with this, at least for auto-renewing subscriptions; that's my point. Every piece of software sold on auto-renewing subscription has some significant number of subscribers (as a percentage of its total number of them) that don't actually want it. That is true regardless of what the publisher intends or wants. Obviously, the exact percentage will vary a great deal, depending on the product. Water is an example of something where that percentage would be low — presumably, almost everybody wants their water to stay on. Netflix, not so much; I myself once paid for Netflix for months, perhaps years, without using it once, and without wanting to keep it on "just in case". I was just too busy to cancel it the few times I thought of it (until I finally did). Netflix is not on the sleazier side of the spectrum, though; it's quite easy to cancel. There are, however, a lot more disgusting sleazy fuckers out there like the Wall Street Journal, MyFico.com, and Comcast, than there are Netflixes. P.S. As a bonus, here's my Second Law of Subscriptiodynamics: The total difficulty in cancelling an isolated auto-renewing subscription always increases over time.

Xylakant 10y ago
> I don't agree with this, at least for auto-renewing subscriptions; that's my point. Every piece of software sold on auto-renewing subscription has some significant number of subscribers (as a percentage of its total number of them) that don't actually want it. Some SaaS providers make unused subscriptions free of charge (Slack AFAIR), others auto-cancel them after a period of inactivity. This obviously only works if the provider has knowledge of whether a subscription is used, but it shows that the flaw is not inherent with subscriptions. Other than that: I have quite a couple of pieces of software that I bought at pretty much full price and never really used. Is that immoral as well?
- veidr 10y ago
  Detecting non-use and waiving all charges in that case? That not only nullifies all moral/ethical/assholiness problems with the subscription model, it is practically heroic. But, I don't think that's very common.
forgetsusername 10y ago
>that don't actually want it. Why is it the company's responsibility to determine if a user "really wants it" or not? If the subscription is live, the assumption is that the service is desired. Personal accountability.
- veidr 10y ago
  Totally, bro!!! BTW, can I interest you in a franchise opportunity? We at "Veidr's Payday Loans" are always looking for local owner-operators who understand "personal accountability".
  - forgetsusername 10y ago
    >Totally, bro!!! So edgy. I don't understand your point. If you're incapable of cancelling a subscription...maybe you shouldn't be subscribing to things? But that's up to you, bro; don't count on others to do it for you.