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[rant] Seriously? Software pricing is officially nuts

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steeladept:
My problem with lifetime licenses are that they are not lifetime licenses not for me, not for the developer, and definitely not for the product.  What I mean by that is that the developer only provides them as long as they are willing or able to support them.  After that, a simple name change, called a "new product" with questionable change of feature set and it becomes a new "lifetime" license option.  Moreover, the old product may or may not still be supported, but there is rarely, if ever, changes that make it a continuing product offer.  Hence I NEVER will buy another lifetime license.  They are a marketing gimmick only as far as I am concerned.

I have purchased 3 such "lifetime licenses" for products that were further developed into "different" products so they could continue to profit.  All before any changed.  I think this is more than a few bad examples, but rather the norm - it just hasn't happened VERY widespread yet.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the developers making the money on it - I just have a problem with the developer offering a "lifetime" license, then changing it, and not following through with the existing base that bought into it.  At very least, they should refund the difference on the lifetime license and provide a one time upgrade to the latest license.  That way at least it is as if you paid for it once and got the upgrades to this point for free.  After all, the developer got to use the money to this point.  I would think of the previous free upgrades as "interest" for the refunded monies.  Personal opinion.

Josh:
That and with lifetime licenses they simply add a pro version or a "premium feature" such as usb portability at an extra charge. There are all sorts of ways to rake money out of existing lifetime license holders. Collectorz.com will likely do this soon and start charging a subscription fee to their "fantastic new method of accessing movie information" (Ask Alwin, he'll verify this). Lifetime rarely is and I think it unfair to judge a company who once offered them and changed their mind (as long as they honor existing lifetime license holder). All developers deserve to be compensated and with a lifetime license, you end up spending more to support these users than what they paid originally.

40hz:
Call me cynical if you like ....
-Carol Haynes (November 18, 2009, 10:45 AM)
--- End quote ---

I think "experienced" would be a more accurate a term.  :) :Thmbsup:

40hz:
All developers deserve to be compensated and with a lifetime license, you end up spending more to support these users than what they paid originally.
-Josh (November 18, 2009, 11:28 AM)
--- End quote ---

Agree 100%. Just one more reason not to offer a lifetime license in the first place. 8)

It's also not a question of whether or not they deserve to be compensated. (No points are given for effort or penmanship once you get out of grade school.) If they're running a business, they NEED to be compensated. If they primarily want to be 'patrons of the art,' they're better off running a FOSS project and inviting other people help them with their development efforts.
 8)

Josh:
Amen. Many users complain when a company switches from originally providing a product as a lifetime license, back when it wasn't very well known, and switch after it takes off and they have to provide more support than was intended. I truly hate when people complain about that. I also dislike lifetime licenses, in practice, as they rarely pan out and the user who bought one thing gets screwed because the company renames a product and sells it as new. Please note: Cases like AnyDVD HD I do NOT CONSIDER a violation to this because the HD addon was in fact an upgrade to the original DVD/CD ONLY product.

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