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Users who’ve paid for it can continue to use it indefinitely, albeit with no support after 1 year from now. The fridge analogy is wrong. MakeMusic is not going

by dahart 2y ago

Users who’ve paid for it can continue to use it indefinitely, albeit with no support after 1 year from now. The fridge analogy is wrong. MakeMusic is not going to remove the software from your computer. > it’s not a major expense (also happens to be a fixed cost) That’s unlikely to be true, and not anyone’s decision but MakeMusic’s. What if they don’t have the money? It’s not reasonable for me to ask you to pay me $10 on the grounds that it’s not a major expense and is a fixed cost, right?

vunderba 2y ago
Users who’ve paid for it can continue to use it indefinitely, albeit with no support after 1 year from now FALSE. From the announcement, "It will not be possible to authorize Finale on any new devices, or reauthorize Finale". If I have to reinstall it for any reason, such as my computer dying, or I get a virus, or I upgrade my computer, or any myriad of reasons, I am completely SOL and can no longer "continue to use it indefinitely".
- dahart 2y ago
  I was referring to this: https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/25843888130839-Finale-Sunset-FAQ#h_01J603J4X4GDVMKQBPN2Q4FNTX https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/258438881308... “Will my software continue to function? Yes! Your existing authorized Finale installations will continue to work as long as your current computer is working.” BTW, I did make the mistake of saying ‘forever’ in another comment, but FWIW ‘indefinitely’ doesn’t mean forever. Also, it doesn’t matter what I say, I don’t work for MakeMusic, just read the whole FAQ.
  - gspencley 2y ago
    > but FWIW ‘indefinitely’ doesn’t mean forever You just really like arguing for the sake of arguing don't you? I'm sure that if I opened a dictionary I would find the distinction, but most people treat the words 'indefinitely' and 'forever' as synonymous. Nit-picking on that minutia kind of makes you come across like the obnoxious little brother who does the "But I'm not touching you!" thing to his sister. It's just annoying and most reasonable people know exactly how 'indefinitely' and 'forever' will be interpreted.
  - wvenable 2y ago
    "...will continue to work as long as your current computer is working." This doesn't seem dumb to you?
    - dahart 2y ago
      Yeah sure, in a way. It’s kinda dumb in the sense that ‘as long as your computer is working’ actually means ‘ending soon’, for the majority of people in the real world. That seems obvious though. Few people if anyone can keep their current computer working with a software app that freezes. It might stop working in a year, it might be more than that, or might be less than that (which they explicitly admit re: Sequoia). It’s a sort of glass-half-full spin, perhaps, but doesn’t seem misleading to me in light of all the FAQ entries and the letter. They are very clearly and explicitly recommending users move off of Finale asap, and not wait for the computer to stop working, whatever that might mean. If someone really truly depends on Finale professionally, and can’t move within a year, it’s not outside the bounds of possibility to freeze their computer, buy a new one for everything else, and keep Finale running for a while. I would in no way recommend that, but I’ve seen people do it before.
      - wvenable 2y ago
        It's not their job to revoke access to a product that I paid for regardless of the reason. If they sold me that product I should be able to pop that software into a Windows 10 VM and use it till the end of time.
        dahart 2y ago
        I guess that depends on what they want, and what their agreement with Steinberg is, and maybe the EULA, and maybe how much money and time they have to maintain an auth server machine. What you’re actually complaining about is the fact that the software was remotely authorized in the first place, starting over 3 decades ago, not that it was discontinued and will stop. It’s fine and fair to be against the idea of releasing software that requires remote authorization, I’m not arguing against that idea. But if you are, then don’t buy it in the first place. Software that is remotely authorized always comes with the risk that authorization will go away, it would be pretty silly to assume otherwise.
gspencley 2y ago
> That’s unlikely to be true, and not anyone’s decision but MakeMusic’s The nuance here is that it depends on the contract between MakeMusic and their customers. If I'm purchasing a subscription and the fine print makes it clear that service may be discontinued at any point for any reason, fair enough. If I make a one-time purchase and expect that I will be able to use what I paid for indefinitely, then them taking down their activation servers without providing a workaround might be a violation of their contract with their customers. But I'm not making a completely ill-informed proposition when I suggest that the expense would be minimal and fixed for MakeMusic to do what I suggested. Obviously I don't know all of the details about how their software works, so I can't know for sure. I'm making certain assumptions based on how long their software has been around, the fact that they have a remote activation mechanism and having developed software professionally myself for over 25 years.

by dahart 2y ago

vunderba 2y ago

Users who’ve paid for it can continue to use it indefinitely, albeit with no support after 1 year from now FALSE. From the announcement, "It will not be possible to authorize Finale on any new devices, or reauthorize Finale". If I have to reinstall it for any reason, such as my computer dying, or I get a virus, or I upgrade my computer, or any myriad of reasons, I am completely SOL and can no longer "continue to use it indefinitely".

dahart 2y ago
I was referring to this: https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/25843888130839-Finale-Sunset-FAQ#h_01J603J4X4GDVMKQBPN2Q4FNTX https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/258438881308... “Will my software continue to function? Yes! Your existing authorized Finale installations will continue to work as long as your current computer is working.” BTW, I did make the mistake of saying ‘forever’ in another comment, but FWIW ‘indefinitely’ doesn’t mean forever. Also, it doesn’t matter what I say, I don’t work for MakeMusic, just read the whole FAQ.
- gspencley 2y ago
  > but FWIW ‘indefinitely’ doesn’t mean forever You just really like arguing for the sake of arguing don't you? I'm sure that if I opened a dictionary I would find the distinction, but most people treat the words 'indefinitely' and 'forever' as synonymous. Nit-picking on that minutia kind of makes you come across like the obnoxious little brother who does the "But I'm not touching you!" thing to his sister. It's just annoying and most reasonable people know exactly how 'indefinitely' and 'forever' will be interpreted.
- wvenable 2y ago
  "...will continue to work as long as your current computer is working." This doesn't seem dumb to you?
  - dahart 2y ago
    Yeah sure, in a way. It’s kinda dumb in the sense that ‘as long as your computer is working’ actually means ‘ending soon’, for the majority of people in the real world. That seems obvious though. Few people if anyone can keep their current computer working with a software app that freezes. It might stop working in a year, it might be more than that, or might be less than that (which they explicitly admit re: Sequoia). It’s a sort of glass-half-full spin, perhaps, but doesn’t seem misleading to me in light of all the FAQ entries and the letter. They are very clearly and explicitly recommending users move off of Finale asap, and not wait for the computer to stop working, whatever that might mean. If someone really truly depends on Finale professionally, and can’t move within a year, it’s not outside the bounds of possibility to freeze their computer, buy a new one for everything else, and keep Finale running for a while. I would in no way recommend that, but I’ve seen people do it before.
    - wvenable 2y ago
      It's not their job to revoke access to a product that I paid for regardless of the reason. If they sold me that product I should be able to pop that software into a Windows 10 VM and use it till the end of time.
      - dahart 2y ago
        I guess that depends on what they want, and what their agreement with Steinberg is, and maybe the EULA, and maybe how much money and time they have to maintain an auth server machine. What you’re actually complaining about is the fact that the software was remotely authorized in the first place, starting over 3 decades ago, not that it was discontinued and will stop. It’s fine and fair to be against the idea of releasing software that requires remote authorization, I’m not arguing against that idea. But if you are, then don’t buy it in the first place. Software that is remotely authorized always comes with the risk that authorization will go away, it would be pretty silly to assume otherwise.

gspencley 2y ago

> That’s unlikely to be true, and not anyone’s decision but MakeMusic’s The nuance here is that it depends on the contract between MakeMusic and their customers. If I'm purchasing a subscription and the fine print makes it clear that service may be discontinued at any point for any reason, fair enough. If I make a one-time purchase and expect that I will be able to use what I paid for indefinitely, then them taking down their activation servers without providing a workaround might be a violation of their contract with their customers. But I'm not making a completely ill-informed proposition when I suggest that the expense would be minimal and fixed for MakeMusic to do what I suggested. Obviously I don't know all of the details about how their software works, so I can't know for sure. I'm making certain assumptions based on how long their software has been around, the fact that they have a remote activation mechanism and having developed software professionally myself for over 25 years.