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Upgrading RoboForm from v6 to v7: worthwhile?
Darwin:
The last straw for me is that, having paid the $9.95 for Roboform Everywhere in a numb-nutted, touchy-feely, what the heck moment, I am now no longer able to use RoboformPass2Go on my thumbdrives - the two licenses that I have purchased no longer activate. I'm looking at LastPass now (thank you, Carol, for your comments about it on the Betanews thread).
I'll be expunging my system of both Roboform and GoodSync if LastPass functions as promised.
Josh:
he recession hit everybody and software developers don’t make an exception. Therefore, in order to best deal with this situation, some companies have decided to take immediate action and make some important changes to their licensing model. Now, most companies did this with a sense of ethics... but not all of them, so this article covers the most recent example of how NOT to go about this kind of changes.
First things first though: a company that took notice of the economic changes a long time ago was Slysoft, the developers of the popular AnyDVD. The first measure they took was to switch from dollars to euros.
Of course, as time passed by, new measures were required and so, recently, the company announced yet another change to its licensing program: the switch from lifetime licenses to yearly subscriptions.
Why is this example worth mentioning, you ask. Well, because in both cases, Slysoft not only announced the changes at least a few weeks before making them, but they also offered a 20% discount in the weeks prior to the change. Obviously, all current registered users were not affected by these changes, they didn't have to pay a single cent or change their subscription plan.
--- End quote ---
How not to change a licensing model
By the way, I posted my rather lengthy retort to Bill on fileforum as well. Carol, thanks for posting yours. I am hoping they decide to honor their previous licenses.
superboyac:
I don't want to defend Roboform too much because they did break their lifetime upgrade policy, but I do completely understand and somewhat sympathize. I've said it many times here, I have no idea how developers can sustain themselves by offering freeware OR lifetime upgrades. The lifetime upgrade policy is the same as freeware, just with a one time fee up front. It's impossible to sustain forever. The only way it's possible is if you already have a lot of money or you have a lot of volunteers working for you. But who is in that situation? If you have written good software, the userbase is going to grow. As it grows, your work is going to increase. Not just for developing the program, but supporting it also. And you're going to do that all for free forever? No way, I don't see how. So I understand Roboform changing their license policy. I'm not defending the way they did it, but I understand why they had to do it.
As for Roboform, aside from the licensing issues, I still prefer it over all the other programs. So i don't mind paying the upgrade fee. Sure, I would have preferred a free upgrade, but I'll pay if it means I can keep using Roboform. I really like the program. And I know Lastpass and the others are good also, but it's not worth changing for me. I'd rather pay whatever it costs. For me to change, in my mind, is like a $200 hassle. So anything below that, I'm fine with. I wasn't always like this. But I've been very fortunate the last 5 years, my salary has increased quite a bit, and I'll pay a few extra dollars for comfort.
But I also sympathize with all the users who got screwed by the lifetime thing. Maybe it would have been best to only apply the new licensing to new users, but it's tough. People have to make money. I'd rather they implement a klunky licensing policy change, instead of going out of business.
I really don't get the freeware model. I don't even think I like it, because of what it means to me. I mean, I love getting free software from mouser, skwire, etc. but I almost wish they'd force me to pay them. Why? Because a lot of these freeware developers are really awesome at what they do: they have great attitudes, great skill, great creativity. If someone gave them a lot of cash to comfortably develop some software without worrying about their other lifestyle issues, I feel we'd see some amazing programs. I've secretly wished I could start a company with the people here as programmers, pay them well, and come up with some software and suites that would blow the roof off of all of these "enterprise" companies. Oracle? Oracle makes billions off of their software, and it's not even that good. The design isn't great, not very creative, very bloated. Now, imagine we get the talented programmers from DC here, start a company, and start creating a lot of little programs (coding snacks) but not for free. Charge a little bit for them. Provide good support, really focus on fine tuning the interfaces/speed/code/etc. to get them exceptional...it would be a great thing.
There's enough talent here, in my opinion, to start a company that can create excellent solutions for people. Imagine if you guys were doing it for a living instead of just on the side. I'm 99% sure the quality of the programs would surpass anything out there right now. With a little bit of proper marketing, the tools would really start to catch on. The great thing is that you wouldn't have to hide behind any gimmicks like a lot of big companies whose software quality isn't good, they just have nice interfaces or a big name. The difference is that the software's quality would speak for itself. So if people were initially hesitant to commit to it, the quality would soon make them give in.
Josh:
I do sympathize with them. However, like you said, that does not excuse them from the licenses they sold to people. Free upgrades is what was sold to me on all 7 of my licenses. Now, I either have to stick with v7, pay over 100 dollars to upgrade them all to their equivelant license in v7, or pay yearly to use the product that I thought was a one time fee.
I do understand their position, and I do understand why they made the change, however I feel that old users should be grandfathered in or offered something more than "10 dollars off one year of RF Everywhere" or "10 dollars off each desktop license you choose to upgrade". That is a slap in the face to me as a user who was forced to purchase 2 additional licenses because it "appeared I was pirating the software due to the number of activations". Since joining DoCo several years ago, I have developed a new-found fondness for actually compensating software authors. I no longer pirate software. I pay for programs I use past their trial times. That said, I expect software authors to hold up their end of the deal when they sell me a license. No, lifetime upgrades are likely not a sustainable licensing model, but that should be fairly obvious to anyone entering the market. If I were to even consider a lifetime model were I to release a public application, it would be at a higher cost than the standard license to compensate for the added cost of support required later in the product lifecycle.
RF, in my opinion, has done wrong by their long time users and supporters. Putting up a "limited time only" free upgrade for folks who purchased licenses in the last 4 months. Alienating the users who have made them as big as they are today, and doing so with a sense that they have done nothing wrong. I am migrating to lastpass as we speak, and will not look back unless roboform attempts to contact me and right the wrong they have done by the products sold to me.
Darwin:
I hear ya, Superboyac. I feel much the same way. However, I've installed LastPass, downgraded to Roboform 6 to export my data (and note that I uninstalled Roboform 7 first but Robofrom 6 Pro was automatically activated, which I thought rather nice), and imported my data into LastPass. Looks good so far - haven't found any mistakes. I love Roboform and this breaks my heart a bit, but for now I'm trialing lastPass and will switch completely if there are no problems. As I've alredy noted, I paid for the upgrade to Roboform Everywhere and, courtesy of having bought two additional Roboform 6 Pro licenses in their last Bits du Jour offer (a few weeks before 7 was released), upgraded to Roboform 7 Desktop as well. So, with the apparent exception of RoboformPass2Go, I'm good to go for a year with Roboform. Doesn't alter the fact that I'm not going to condone this kind of treatment. Being able to afford (and appreciate the rationale behind) paid upgrades is one thing, but I still want to be treated with a modicum of respect and I don't feel that this is the case with Siber Systems.
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