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Another 'Lifetime' license bites the dust
J-Mac:
All I can say is that I purchased AnyDVD and CloneDVD (from Slysoft and ElaborateBytes respectively) just shy of five years ago and have been notified of all updates and upgrades. Never charged for one of them. And they have provided support much more quickly - and very helpful support - consistently over the whole life of the product thus far. Plus my licenses will remain lifetime, according to the news release from Gordon at Slysoft. I can't complain at all!
BTW, AnyDVD truly WAS a different product. THe original AnyDVD did, and still does, remove all protection from commercial DVD's in real time as you copy or rip them. AnyDVD-HD does the same but for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disks. The format of those is different enough to justify an entirely new product IMO.
Jim
J-Mac:
Another one to add to the list of lifetime licenses is MediaMonkey Gold license. AFAIK they have never reneged on this. they also offer a free version and a regular license that is good through one major upgrade cycle.
Jim
markan:
If the product is being enhanced beyond simple bug fixes then a developer has to fund themselves in some way (unless they do it purely as a hobby). Lifetime licenses work when you are selling a lot of new licenses. When the sales tail off, either because the market matures, or like now, people rein in their spending then we have to expect people to change their models.
I agree though that it is wrong to change models for existing customers, but I also think that where a product is being significantly enhanced then it is not unreasonable at some point to say it is a new product and move to upgrade pricing.
On the flip side a subscription model only works for me if the developer is having to constantly adapt their product. I see this making sense for things like AV products. If there is no compelling need to release rapid update then a subscription is just a license to print money, and if there is user's data involved it is getting close to extortion ;)
zridling:
Thanks for MediaMonkey Gold, J-Mac!
Dormouse:
a developer has to fund themselves in some way ... When the sales tail off, either because the market matures, or like now, people rein in their spending then we have to expect people to change their models.-markan (December 16, 2008, 04:57 AM)
--- End quote ---
The problem is the idea that a change of model will solve the income shortage. The best model for a product is the best model for that product whatever the state of the economy. There are things that can be done to bring income forwards, but moving to a different model will not improve things unless the wrong model was used in the first place. The danger of making an abrupt and major change is that it will affect the perception of customers and future customers in a way that can't be undone.
As you say, a lifetime model only really works if there will always be a supply of new customers. It can make people more likely to buy (sometimes much more likely) and can be a useful differentiator from competitors. So it is not necessarily a bad model for many products. And many people lose their license details and still upgrade their hardware from time to time - can be tempted to buy a new license. Usage of a program is often short or medium term (say between 2 and 6 years) - so there may not be a huge loss compared to an Upgrade cycle model (and on upgrade models, many people have another look at the competition every time they are asked to fork out again).
Annual licenses generally play poorly in the consumer market except for AVs - and then only because people are scared into it. I would be surprised if many products can increase their long-term income by moving to this model, wherever they start from.
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