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I mean 20+ years ago we called this shareware. If you get value out of the free part of a tool, great! If not, then you get to choose to pay for the rest or n

by netghost 11mo ago

I mean 20+ years ago we called this shareware. If you get value out of the free part of a tool, great! If not, then you get to choose to pay for the rest or not. Personally I'm happy that it tends to be the feature set I can live without that costs money. Not always, but often enough.

deleted 11mo ago
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Sharlin 11mo ago
Fair, but shareware was pay-once, which many people find preferable to a subscription-chained model.
- blackqueeriroh 11mo ago
  You don’t have to keep paying for a subscription. You can stop at any time and still have access to all the non-AI features.
  - tavavex 11mo ago
    Yes, that's the situation at launch. The fear that's expressed above is that the subscription model incentivizes pushing people towards it as hard as possible. It's the exact opposite of Serif's straightforward model from before. Get ready for most new features (including ones that are unrelated to AI) to become locked to the subscription model. When they think they're not getting enough out of Affinity, they may also start cutting core functionality to force people to subscribe. Maybe, a limit on how many documents you can edit at once, or a layer limit (for the photo part), or an object limit (for the vector/"designer" part). This is how all of these subscriptions go nowadays.
  - nobody9999 11mo ago
    >You don’t have to keep paying for a subscription. You can stop at any time and still have access to all the non-AI features And if Canva decides that "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further,"[0] what will you do then? Go and rent the Adobe subscription suite instead? [0] http://www.quickmeme.com/img/32/32b4229145de0a2c1171b9b5757f25dfaa1bbf7b9be0b687be4dd5aec76a34d6.jpg http://www.quickmeme.com/img/32/32b4229145de0a2c1171b9b5757f...
- netghost 11mo ago
  That's a great distinction. There is a big difference between a one time payment and a recurring payment, especially if the company canceling the product or going out of business means you can no longer use the tool, and I honestly steer clear of those in most cases.
donmcronald 11mo ago
> I mean 20+ years ago we called this shareware. It's not even close. This is more akin to shareware where Bill Gates shows up at your house to collect a payment every month and formats your hard drive if you don't cough up the money. Shareware gave you a perpetual license and control that couldn't be taken away, especially before the internet.

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]

Sharlin 11mo ago

Fair, but shareware was pay-once, which many people find preferable to a subscription-chained model.

blackqueeriroh 11mo ago
You don’t have to keep paying for a subscription. You can stop at any time and still have access to all the non-AI features.
- tavavex 11mo ago
  Yes, that's the situation at launch. The fear that's expressed above is that the subscription model incentivizes pushing people towards it as hard as possible. It's the exact opposite of Serif's straightforward model from before. Get ready for most new features (including ones that are unrelated to AI) to become locked to the subscription model. When they think they're not getting enough out of Affinity, they may also start cutting core functionality to force people to subscribe. Maybe, a limit on how many documents you can edit at once, or a layer limit (for the photo part), or an object limit (for the vector/"designer" part). This is how all of these subscriptions go nowadays.
- nobody9999 11mo ago
  >You don’t have to keep paying for a subscription. You can stop at any time and still have access to all the non-AI features And if Canva decides that "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further,"[0] what will you do then? Go and rent the Adobe subscription suite instead? [0] http://www.quickmeme.com/img/32/32b4229145de0a2c1171b9b5757f25dfaa1bbf7b9be0b687be4dd5aec76a34d6.jpg http://www.quickmeme.com/img/32/32b4229145de0a2c1171b9b5757f...
netghost 11mo ago
That's a great distinction. There is a big difference between a one time payment and a recurring payment, especially if the company canceling the product or going out of business means you can no longer use the tool, and I honestly steer clear of those in most cases.

donmcronald 11mo ago

> I mean 20+ years ago we called this shareware. It's not even close. This is more akin to shareware where Bill Gates shows up at your house to collect a payment every month and formats your hard drive if you don't cough up the money. Shareware gave you a perpetual license and control that couldn't be taken away, especially before the internet.