It's obviously a product, but it has to be modified and updated all the time because: a) the industry on the whole doesn't care about quality, so we ship crap

It's obviously a product, but it has to be modified and updated all the time because: a) the industry on the whole doesn't care about quality, so we ship crap that needs to be fixed later. b) selling a subscription seems to be more profitable than getting paid once, so companies tend to force customers into subscriptions.