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This is well timed with the launch of Panic's SSH client "Prompt" version 3, which is $20 a year or $100 (!) for a lifetime license. As a purchaser of Prompt 2

This is well timed with the launch of Panic's SSH client "Prompt" version 3, which is $20 a year or $100 (!) for a lifetime license. As a purchaser of Prompt 2, I'm left with a slightly sour taste, as this version is now abandoned. "Lifetime" isn't really lifetime.

kemayo 3y ago
It's the lifetime of the product, not the lifetime of the purchaser -- as long as they're updating that product, you can keep on using it. For that matter, you really can keep on using Prompt 2 for as long as you want. Someday it'll probably stop working after an OS update, but the version that works on the older OS will always be there, working on any devices you keep at that version. It feels wrong to tell Panic "I gave you $10 for this a decade ago, you have to keep updating it forever for me".
- LeoPanthera 3y ago
  > "I gave you $10 for this a decade ago, you have to keep updating it forever for me". I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that it's wrong to claim it is a "lifetime" purchase - and I dispute your claim that it's the "lifetime of the product". That's obviously what it is, but it isn't what people will assume when they read "lifetime". Since Prompt 3 will inevitably be followed by Prompt 4 which won't be a free upgrade, $100 seems like a lot to pay.
  - kemayo 3y ago
    > Since Prompt 3 will inevitably be followed by Prompt 4 which won't be a free upgrade, $100 seems like a lot to pay. Mind you, if you buy it and it takes them more than 5 years to release Prompt 4 then you'll come out ahead compared to having subscribed. That's even pretty plausible, given that the subscription revenue means that they'll have far less motivation to release a whole new version to get the revenue from new purchases. (In fact, the incentives now cut the other way -- they're motivated to keep improving the existing version in-place, because they'll probably lose subscribers in the process of switching to a new version.)
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  Why did you decrease the number by an order of magnitude for your example? And when it comes to "lifetime" for something that's not undergoing significant wear and tear, what do you think is a reasonable number of years? Because my general response is something like 30.
  - Anon1096 3y ago
    Well if there's no breaking OS updates then you'll have no problem sticking to version 2 as long as you wish. If there is a breaking OS update and you install it, I would consider that equivalent to "significant wear and tear".
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      > If there is a breaking OS update and you install it, I would consider that equivalent to "significant wear and tear". Interesting. Because I would equate that to light use, and expect the warranty to fix it. If an OS update is significant, what's medium and what's light?
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
  - waltere 3y ago
    I was curious about this example since I'm familiar with Panic. Prompt was released on October 8, 2014 for the price of $9.99[1]. It received bug fixes and new features until v2.6.19 on May 2, 2022[2]. $9.99 for almost 8 years of bug fixes and new features seems like a great deal, though probably unsustainable for the developer. That's developing against iOS 7 through iOS 15 and multiple versions of iPhones and iPads. So the person you replied to didn't decrease the number by an order of magnitude in their example. Panic decided to increase the non-subscription price for Prompt 3.x and its updates by 10x, while also bundling the iOS/iPadOS and the new macOS product into a single purchase. [1]https://blog.panic.com/introducing-prompt-2/ https://blog.panic.com/introducing-prompt-2/ [2]https://help.panic.com/releasenotes/prompt2/ https://help.panic.com/releasenotes/prompt2/
fourfour3 3y ago
I am exceptionally sour about this, as Prompt 2 just crashes on opening on my iPhone, has for some time, and now the 'fix' will be "Buy Prompt 3".

kemayo 3y ago

It's the lifetime of the product, not the lifetime of the purchaser -- as long as they're updating that product, you can keep on using it. For that matter, you really can keep on using Prompt 2 for as long as you want. Someday it'll probably stop working after an OS update, but the version that works on the older OS will always be there, working on any devices you keep at that version. It feels wrong to tell Panic "I gave you $10 for this a decade ago, you have to keep updating it forever for me".

LeoPanthera 3y ago
> "I gave you $10 for this a decade ago, you have to keep updating it forever for me". I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that it's wrong to claim it is a "lifetime" purchase - and I dispute your claim that it's the "lifetime of the product". That's obviously what it is, but it isn't what people will assume when they read "lifetime". Since Prompt 3 will inevitably be followed by Prompt 4 which won't be a free upgrade, $100 seems like a lot to pay.
- kemayo 3y ago
  > Since Prompt 3 will inevitably be followed by Prompt 4 which won't be a free upgrade, $100 seems like a lot to pay. Mind you, if you buy it and it takes them more than 5 years to release Prompt 4 then you'll come out ahead compared to having subscribed. That's even pretty plausible, given that the subscription revenue means that they'll have far less motivation to release a whole new version to get the revenue from new purchases. (In fact, the incentives now cut the other way -- they're motivated to keep improving the existing version in-place, because they'll probably lose subscribers in the process of switching to a new version.)
Dylan16807 3y ago
Why did you decrease the number by an order of magnitude for your example? And when it comes to "lifetime" for something that's not undergoing significant wear and tear, what do you think is a reasonable number of years? Because my general response is something like 30.
- Anon1096 3y ago
  Well if there's no breaking OS updates then you'll have no problem sticking to version 2 as long as you wish. If there is a breaking OS update and you install it, I would consider that equivalent to "significant wear and tear".
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    > If there is a breaking OS update and you install it, I would consider that equivalent to "significant wear and tear". Interesting. Because I would equate that to light use, and expect the warranty to fix it. If an OS update is significant, what's medium and what's light?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- waltere 3y ago
  I was curious about this example since I'm familiar with Panic. Prompt was released on October 8, 2014 for the price of $9.99[1]. It received bug fixes and new features until v2.6.19 on May 2, 2022[2]. $9.99 for almost 8 years of bug fixes and new features seems like a great deal, though probably unsustainable for the developer. That's developing against iOS 7 through iOS 15 and multiple versions of iPhones and iPads. So the person you replied to didn't decrease the number by an order of magnitude in their example. Panic decided to increase the non-subscription price for Prompt 3.x and its updates by 10x, while also bundling the iOS/iPadOS and the new macOS product into a single purchase. [1]https://blog.panic.com/introducing-prompt-2/ https://blog.panic.com/introducing-prompt-2/ [2]https://help.panic.com/releasenotes/prompt2/ https://help.panic.com/releasenotes/prompt2/

fourfour3 3y ago

I am exceptionally sour about this, as Prompt 2 just crashes on opening on my iPhone, has for some time, and now the 'fix' will be "Buy Prompt 3".