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Perhaps I'm just cheap (I prefer frugal), but I refuse to purchase anything with a recurring subscription. Don't even own a cellphone. That said, I had no pro

Perhaps I'm just cheap (I prefer frugal), but I refuse to purchase anything with a recurring subscription. Don't even own a cellphone. That said, I had no problem buying Sublime Text 2 for $60 because it was a great product, and I was guaranteed updates until the next major version. If it was subscription, even at $5 a month, I'd have never made that purchase.

carsongross 14y ago
And, because of that, Sublime's developer will never make a living at it, and it will either be a labor of love or abandoned. I'm with you, man, I'm cheap too. But that's the reality of todays software.
- SoftwareMaven 14y ago
  As long as Sublime can charge for upgrades in the future, it's not too large a problem. The problem is all the App Store software that can't and the user expectations of free upgrades that are being set by Apple (not familiar with other app stores to know if they are following the same path).
  - carsongross 14y ago
    Right, but my thesis is that the upgrade-train model of software revenue is faltering. I think Sparrow is evidence of this (what you say about Sublime could apply as easily to Sparrow.) I think it is a large problem, and we are seeing the manifestations of it now. Time will tell, but I'm sure not gonna work on one-time charge software, nor would I recommend it to anyone. I'll work on free open source stuff, financed by work on whatever recurring models I can figure out.
  - robryan 14y ago
    Having purchased sublime text 2 I would definitely encourage the author of it to do this. The main competition text mate is a great example itself of this model being unsustainable in terms of having someone continue to develop the product full time in the long term.
    - veidr 14y ago
      Opposite problem. TextMate made Alan Odgaard so much money that he didn't need to work on it anymore[1]. Who wants to maintain an old code base when they could spend ten weeks trekking in New Zealand[2] and then hunker down for the Great Rewrite That Fixes All The Problems? (Not that I blame Odgaard; in fact, as an ST2 user this is my greatest fear about that product--selling thousands and thousands of copies at $60 is an extremely viable level of revenue for a one-man shop.) [1]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ [2]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/
      - robryan 14y ago
        I disagree, I think it it more that the future effort vs reward didn't stack up as well. Because so many developers had already purchased and it was well known, a free version 2 wouldn't represent the same kind of financial gain the initial spike did, despite all the extra effort. A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns.
        jowiar 14y ago
        > A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns. Marginal utility. The first million is worth a lot more than the second.
      - gurkendoktor 14y ago
        I had always suspected that TextMate was a huge financial success but never did the googling. Thanks a lot for posting this. I wonder if PixelMator is on a similar trajectory after Apple has featured them in nearly every possible spot on the Mac App Store.
dbecker 14y ago
I respect you, but anyone who refuses to get a cell phone because of the recurring fee is a bad barometer for what the market will bare.
conradfr 14y ago
I had this problem when I wanted to buy phpStorm. It costs 94.05 EUR (which I view as expensive for a personal license) with a one-year upgrade. Why can't you give me fixes for the version I purchased and then sell the next major version ? Years ago it was the same thing with Trillian IM. While I happily paid Reaper (a DAW) that gives me two major versions.
- kpozin 14y ago
  JetBrains does something similar. They give you access to all updates, including any major versions, for a year. (They put out a new major version approximately every 8 months, so depending on when you buy, you might end up with two major version upgrades for free.) Then you pay to maintain your subscription year after year, which you can think of as upgrade pricing.
  - conradfr 14y ago
    Actually PhpStorm is a product of JetBrains ;)
    - kpozin 14y ago
      Exactly :-) My point was that their business model is already very similar to what you described ("give me fixes for the version I purchased and then sell the next major version").
      - conradfr 14y ago
        Ooooh my bad, I see your point now.

carsongross 14y ago

And, because of that, Sublime's developer will never make a living at it, and it will either be a labor of love or abandoned. I'm with you, man, I'm cheap too. But that's the reality of todays software.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
As long as Sublime can charge for upgrades in the future, it's not too large a problem. The problem is all the App Store software that can't and the user expectations of free upgrades that are being set by Apple (not familiar with other app stores to know if they are following the same path).
- carsongross 14y ago
  Right, but my thesis is that the upgrade-train model of software revenue is faltering. I think Sparrow is evidence of this (what you say about Sublime could apply as easily to Sparrow.) I think it is a large problem, and we are seeing the manifestations of it now. Time will tell, but I'm sure not gonna work on one-time charge software, nor would I recommend it to anyone. I'll work on free open source stuff, financed by work on whatever recurring models I can figure out.
- robryan 14y ago
  Having purchased sublime text 2 I would definitely encourage the author of it to do this. The main competition text mate is a great example itself of this model being unsustainable in terms of having someone continue to develop the product full time in the long term.
  - veidr 14y ago
    Opposite problem. TextMate made Alan Odgaard so much money that he didn't need to work on it anymore[1]. Who wants to maintain an old code base when they could spend ten weeks trekking in New Zealand[2] and then hunker down for the Great Rewrite That Fixes All The Problems? (Not that I blame Odgaard; in fact, as an ST2 user this is my greatest fear about that product--selling thousands and thousands of copies at $60 is an extremely viable level of revenue for a one-man shop.) [1]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ [2]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/
    - robryan 14y ago
      I disagree, I think it it more that the future effort vs reward didn't stack up as well. Because so many developers had already purchased and it was well known, a free version 2 wouldn't represent the same kind of financial gain the initial spike did, despite all the extra effort. A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns.
      - jowiar 14y ago
        > A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns. Marginal utility. The first million is worth a lot more than the second.
    - gurkendoktor 14y ago
      I had always suspected that TextMate was a huge financial success but never did the googling. Thanks a lot for posting this. I wonder if PixelMator is on a similar trajectory after Apple has featured them in nearly every possible spot on the Mac App Store.

dbecker 14y ago

I respect you, but anyone who refuses to get a cell phone because of the recurring fee is a bad barometer for what the market will bare.

conradfr 14y ago

I had this problem when I wanted to buy phpStorm. It costs 94.05 EUR (which I view as expensive for a personal license) with a one-year upgrade. Why can't you give me fixes for the version I purchased and then sell the next major version ? Years ago it was the same thing with Trillian IM. While I happily paid Reaper (a DAW) that gives me two major versions.

kpozin 14y ago
JetBrains does something similar. They give you access to all updates, including any major versions, for a year. (They put out a new major version approximately every 8 months, so depending on when you buy, you might end up with two major version upgrades for free.) Then you pay to maintain your subscription year after year, which you can think of as upgrade pricing.
- conradfr 14y ago
  Actually PhpStorm is a product of JetBrains ;)
  - kpozin 14y ago
    Exactly :-) My point was that their business model is already very similar to what you described ("give me fixes for the version I purchased and then sell the next major version").
    - conradfr 14y ago
      Ooooh my bad, I see your point now.