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I get where you're coming from and your examples are egregiously expensive, but do we really want to live in a world where software is valued at a $2 one-time p

by mvdtnz 9mo ago

I get where you're coming from and your examples are egregiously expensive, but do we really want to live in a world where software is valued at a $2 one-time payment? We shouldn't be engaging in a race to the bottom like that.

rgovostes 9mo ago
I have a few app subscriptions that are under $5/yr, like Parcel, and always purchase the latest release of Acorn for around $20/yr. I use those apps frequently and hope those rates are supporting the independent developers who make them. I would gladly pay more for tools I use to make a living. A few other apps that are only occasionally used support short-term paid activations, like Flighty and Oceanic+. I think that's a respectable business model, too. On the less-reasonable end of the spectrum though are the $10/mo apps. Apple used to charge that much for the entire operating system. I am pretty sure that if I tried to load up my phone with a handful of the kinds of apps I used to use (a word game, a third-party Twitter client, an SSH terminal, a calculator or to-do app with a trendy minimalist design) I would easily cross $100/mo for some marginally-useful features.
asdff 9mo ago
Well, in this present world where it isn't valued at a one-time payment, OP is no longer a customer. Myself as well. Likewise probably a lot of people on HN. Like OP, I don't scroll through the app store anymore. I used to actually do that for fun! So the developer of that would be $2 app is getting nothing today. They release their app and get no one downloading it because it is comingled with the bullshit. Best they can hope for is a 6 year old steals their parents CC and signs them up for a recurring subscription they miss between the rest of their bills. This is the world we live in instead of the $2 software world.
raincole 9mo ago
No, but I want to live in a world where software can be 'done.' With very occasional security updates perhaps. I don't want to justify why my pomodoro timer needs a subscription model with constant updates.
- pjmlp 9mo ago
  Except that in that world they cannot force apps to adopt new APIs and have to keep supporting the old ones, thus the forced upgrades.
  - latexr 9mo ago
    Apple does keep supporting old APIs indefinitely.
    - pjmlp 9mo ago
      No it doesn't, do you need examples?
      - latexr 9mo ago
        I can give you examples. Just the other day I was updating an API that has been deprecated for a decade and a half but still worked. I never had to update a deprecated API in macOS, though I do. Maybe I got lucky in the ones I use, but either way the point stands.
        pjmlp 9mo ago
        Try to use Quicktime, Quicktime3D, QuicktimeVR on Tahoe, with their Mac OS 9 API surface. Or Java Bridge, Carbon, AGL for some more recent on OS X timeframe. An example on Github compiling on Tahoe is welcomed. Nope, "Apple does keep supporting old APIs indefinitely.". doesn't stand.
        latexr 9mo ago
        > with their Mac OS 9 API surface Oh, come on, that’s just bad faith arguing. “Indefinitely” does not mean “forever”. When an API stops working because the OS around it fundamentally changes, that‘s understandable. But they don’t usually break something they deprecated just because it was deprecated, those keep working. > An example on Github compiling on Tahoe is welcomed. Sure, buddy, I’ll get right on it. I’ve been avoiding Tahoe since it was announced but I’ll install it and create a project just for a random troll on the internet. I’ll even make a series of them, and a private YouTube channel just for you while I’m at it.

by mvdtnz 9mo ago

rgovostes 9mo ago

I have a few app subscriptions that are under $5/yr, like Parcel, and always purchase the latest release of Acorn for around $20/yr. I use those apps frequently and hope those rates are supporting the independent developers who make them. I would gladly pay more for tools I use to make a living. A few other apps that are only occasionally used support short-term paid activations, like Flighty and Oceanic+. I think that's a respectable business model, too. On the less-reasonable end of the spectrum though are the $10/mo apps. Apple used to charge that much for the entire operating system. I am pretty sure that if I tried to load up my phone with a handful of the kinds of apps I used to use (a word game, a third-party Twitter client, an SSH terminal, a calculator or to-do app with a trendy minimalist design) I would easily cross $100/mo for some marginally-useful features.

asdff 9mo ago

Well, in this present world where it isn't valued at a one-time payment, OP is no longer a customer. Myself as well. Likewise probably a lot of people on HN. Like OP, I don't scroll through the app store anymore. I used to actually do that for fun! So the developer of that would be $2 app is getting nothing today. They release their app and get no one downloading it because it is comingled with the bullshit. Best they can hope for is a 6 year old steals their parents CC and signs them up for a recurring subscription they miss between the rest of their bills. This is the world we live in instead of the $2 software world.

raincole 9mo ago

No, but I want to live in a world where software can be 'done.' With very occasional security updates perhaps. I don't want to justify why my pomodoro timer needs a subscription model with constant updates.

pjmlp 9mo ago
Except that in that world they cannot force apps to adopt new APIs and have to keep supporting the old ones, thus the forced upgrades.
- latexr 9mo ago
  Apple does keep supporting old APIs indefinitely.
  - pjmlp 9mo ago
    No it doesn't, do you need examples?
    - latexr 9mo ago
      I can give you examples. Just the other day I was updating an API that has been deprecated for a decade and a half but still worked. I never had to update a deprecated API in macOS, though I do. Maybe I got lucky in the ones I use, but either way the point stands.
      - pjmlp 9mo ago
        Try to use Quicktime, Quicktime3D, QuicktimeVR on Tahoe, with their Mac OS 9 API surface. Or Java Bridge, Carbon, AGL for some more recent on OS X timeframe. An example on Github compiling on Tahoe is welcomed. Nope, "Apple does keep supporting old APIs indefinitely.". doesn't stand.
        latexr 9mo ago
        > with their Mac OS 9 API surface Oh, come on, that’s just bad faith arguing. “Indefinitely” does not mean “forever”. When an API stops working because the OS around it fundamentally changes, that‘s understandable. But they don’t usually break something they deprecated just because it was deprecated, those keep working. > An example on Github compiling on Tahoe is welcomed. Sure, buddy, I’ll get right on it. I’ve been avoiding Tahoe since it was announced but I’ll install it and create a project just for a random troll on the internet. I’ll even make a series of them, and a private YouTube channel just for you while I’m at it.