The software subscription model

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COMMENTARY By Will Fastie My data is being held hostage. A recent email from TechSmith, the maker of Camtasia and Snagit, rubbed me the wrong way. Thi
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What about the glowing review of snagit given in the AskWoody column that came out at the same time as your column?

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Will, You baulked at my use of the phrase “software rental”, rather than “software subscription”, but having your data held hostage confirms my use of the term rental. If you rent a house or a car, you surrender all privileges of use when the term is up.  Now, isn’t this exactly how rental of Snagit and Abobe products works?

Maybe we need two classes of products to describe the pay-as-you-go model. One conveys full rights to use after payment lapses, like my use of the very good VueScan from Hamrick, exactly like my right in perpetuity to read the daily New York Times delivered to my door.  Those are clearly subscriptions. Snagit and Adobe products are rentals, exactly like the Ford Expedition I rented for a drive to Texas and back.

Makes sense now?

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Cybertooth, windbg

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I am running Photoshop CS3 upgraded to CS5 and waiting to install it on a new computer.  Looks like I am in the same boat as you.  Great.  Thanks for posting.

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I recently installed CS5 on a new laptop. It was an upgrade from CS3, and thus required me to give the CS3 serial number – worked fine. So THAT exact scenario seems ok – I expect that the CS5 activation server still runs and and can access the CS3 subscription database. How long that will last, is unknown – and I agree with Will’s conclusion that a fallback to be able to continue to use old software I PAID FOR in perpetuity should continue to work, as I certainly won’t ever go to Adobe’s subscription, way out of my budget for what I use it for. And out of principle too. 🙂

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wdburt1

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We purchased the Adobe CS2 suite I think in 2005? Or 2006.  I’m not sure how, but at some point we were given access to a download at Adobe’s website of the install (it was purchased on disks) and I think a number to use in place of the serial number.  The install didn’t work and their help people were no help!  Somewhere on the net I found directions that told of a glitch in the file naming/direction.  In any case, that was the problem for the install.  Since then, with every new computer purchase, we’ve installed it and it works.    Just installed it on a laptop running Windows 11.

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Douglas Schuessler wrote:

What about the glowing review of snagit …

Just because I’m concerned about the way TechSmith is approaching its subscription model doesn’t mean I have qualms about the software. I’ve owned Camtasia for 20 years.

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wdburt1 wrote:

Looks like I am in the same boat as you.

If you’re at CS5, I think you’re okay for the moment. Check the Creative Suite Archive.

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wdburt1, JPMedia

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Ben Myers wrote:

You balked at my use of the phrase “software rental”, …

Yes, because we spent 40 years buying PC software with the sense that we owned it.

I’ll give you that “rental” fairly describes the situation. However, find me a mainstream software company that uses the term.

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Will Fastie wrote:

Yes, because we spent 40 years buying PC software with the sense that we owned it.

I’ve always had the sense that I owned a license to use it.  I’ve never considered that I actually owned the software.  I don’t own any of the software I use, including Windows.

Will Fastie wrote:

I’ll give you that “rental” fairly describes the situation. However, find me a mainstream software company that uses the term.

No software company has to use the term, “rental”, in order for the use of the software via the subscription license to be the same as “rental”.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Boy, did you hit the nail on the head. I had a dongle for a particular program (entirely justified — it’s a technically specialized program with ITAR implications). The 2014 program version was “licensed in perpetuity.” A hard disk crash blew up my dongle registration, and there’s no way to re-register the dongle, so no way to reactivate the program. A license to the current version is absurdly expensive. Not only is my data held hostage, but my two- to three-times-a-year usage is blocked. I’ve ended up starting to code my own software as a workaround (isn’t retirement great?). My plan is to turn it loose as freeware (at the level I’m writing, ITAR is irrelevant; there used to be freeware on the net that does what I’m doing, though only under DOS for 1024 by 768 screens.). No company lives forever. Shouldn’t all companies have some end-of-life protocol so that, if they go out of business, they don’t hang civilization out to dry?

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ascheeli wrote:

Shouldn’t all companies have some end-of-life protocol so that, if they go out of business, they don’t hang civilization out to dry?

Yes.

Long ago, I bought Pinnacle Studio version 9. In 2021, I bought version 24. It could not read the version 9 project files, forcing me to redo those projects from scratch. Can you guess? I didn’t use Pinnacle for those projects.

I asked Corel if I could buy a copy of the last version of Pinnacle Studio that could read the v9 projects files. No dice.

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I am in the same situation with Adobe products, Photoshop CS6 and Acrobat Pro 10. A Widows 10 Pro update apparently broke the functionality of Acrobat 10 and Adobe is unrelenting on allowing me to fix the activation process. I have both products on retired computers, so will use the hardware/software combination until the hardware dies. I will NEVER again pay for an Adobe product because they sold me perpetual licenses on these products and reneged. They have lost a customer that would otherwise consider their products in the future.

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PL1, Mr. Austin, Cybertooth

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Well,

Score one for MS! When they stopped supporting Microsoft Money they made a sunset version, which btw anyone can use, and I’m still using it today on Win 11. The only thing that doesn’t is downloading info from the net but I didn’t use that anyway.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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bbearren

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I’m still using it, too, RG

RetiredGeek wrote:

The only thing that doesn’t is downloading info from the net but I didn’t use that anyway.

My Credit Union has account transaction download into .ofx format as an option, and Money Sunset imports these from my desktop without a hitch.  Works a treat.  I also use an Excel spreadsheet for all the same transactions to cross check my accounts to make sure I’m not making errors.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix springs to mind.
Having a legacy offline OS around helps, whether in a VM or offline h/w installation device.
There are no sustainable software products these days without subscription, trickery and downright financial draining tendancies.
Then there are alternatives if using GNU linux operating systems for homeusers.
Some learn, some don’t and some won’t..

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Mark, Cybertooth, Bill C.

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You compare the subscription model to paying utility bills like electricity, but I know I am going to need electricity every month and will pay for what I use.
I might be prepared to pay a subscription if I know it’s software I am definitely going to use on a regular basis and get regular value out of, but one big hole in the subscription model is you continue to pay the fee, even if you don’t use the software for a long period and get zero value from it in that period.
Also subscription based services are often for major packages and individuals may only need a fraction of the features so understandably feel aggrieved to pay on an ongoing basis for lots of functionality that is useless to them. Adobe Creative Suite certainly falls into this category for many.
I can accept an ongoing fee for support or upgrades, if I need support, or need the upgrade, but not forced on me if I don’t need them. I would also be prepared to pay a fee for security patches, provided it’s for something the vendor couldn’t have been expected to anticipate before shipping the product (i.e. not shoddy coding).
“Upgrades” for changes sake I definitely don’t need, especially when the upgrade makes the product worse (often requiring retraining too!) so I would say to vendors, don’t spend money changing a product if the customers are happy with it as it is. One reason often given is they need to make the software more “modern” – often meaning more difficult to use and then blackmailing customers to pay for change thing they don’t want by preventing them in various ways from continuing to use what they have. The change may also mean retraining is needed to keep up, with zero added value to the customer.
I believe operating systems should be separated from the user interface (as with Linux) and if you want to produce a new User Interface it must stand or fall on it’s merits, rather than monopoly fashion forcing major change that people don’t need or want because you want to make more money out of it and know people are locked into your product.
NB I always use Nova Launcher on my Android phones, no matter which vendor they are from as this means I don’t need to learn a new UI when I change my phone.

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hhodges, Steve S., Cybertooth, Bill C., windbg

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You’ve captured my thoughts perfectly!  There are far too many product “upgrades” that serve no useful purpose to the majority of the user base.

Another example of the subscription model being completely annoying is QuickBooks.  Aside from Intuit trying to force everyone to the online version, which is another gripe entirely, the basics of accounting haven’t changed in eons.  Anyone not running payroll really doesn’t ever need to update the program, but soon it will be available by subscription only.

On the other hand, this is the sort of thing that powers the open source industry!  LibreOffice suits my needs perfectly (and is a worldwide standard format), so why pay Microsoft’s extortionist prices?

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hhodges, Cybertooth, Doug D, snissen, windbg

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When a software publisher ends a product, or abandons a particular file format, there’s an easy solution: create a free, downloadable, read-only application than can read that file format and convert it and print it. Microsoft has done this for a long time with its Office line of products. If someone sends me a Visio file, which I don’t license, I can download a free Visio Reader to open the file, but not edit it.

Listen up, software publishers: If you don’t want to lose customers, give us this out: a free file opener or reader (as in read-only) so our files in your format are still useful to us. If we’re not angry with you, we might even decide our files are useful enough to license your new subscription version!

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SueW, Steve S., windbg

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I hate “Auto renew” subscriptions.  I am 79 years old and my spouse is not interested in the dozens of applications I use.  When I die, she will get billed for renewals she does not use. She will not know how to cancel them all.

Most subscriptions default to auto renew.  I try to find the well hidden place to cancel auto renew immediately after subscribing.  The only hope is for her to cancel the credit cards I use.

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windbg

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I’ve always disliked (read: HATED!) subscription models. I understand why businesses use them, but they do not work well for me. The discussion reminds me of the fight over public domain music at imslp.org some years ago. A big name publisher tried to shut down the site and prevent it from sharing 100-year-old music scores.

They worked out the details to keep it legal. Meanwhile, someone made the point that maybe the publisher should work on producing something new rather than focusing so much effort on getting paid for our grandparents’ labors.

I have to say that new and innovative software from a trusted company that doesn’t try to milk money from me at every turn would be seriously considered on my end.

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What’s to say that Microsoft doesn’t implement the subscription model with Windows 12 (or whatever else they might decide to call the next incarnation of Windows) rather than have downloadable licenses/copies of the OS?

They might even be so bold as to have both a monthly price structure and a yearly price structure!

Luckily, we’re probably too far away from the actual release date for Windows’ next iteration for anyone to know for sure if they’ll adopt the subscription model or not for Windows.

Here’s hoping that they have NEITHER an annual nor a monthly subscription model and keep to their historical price model for the OS.

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I suspect that the rebranding of Windows to “Windows as a service” was a first step towards turning it into subscription software.

IMHO, its not a great leap to speculate that MS will aggressively use its massive investments in Azure and AI to ensure that a future iteration of Windows will call home to verify that there is an active, paid-up subscription.  Otherwise, prevent the system from starting or only start with severely reduced functionality (e.g., cannot save files, shutdown after very brief intervals, etc.) using existing or enhanced monitoring for which the telemetry framework already exists.

I hope I’m wrong but you never know.

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Cybertooth

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For years we had been using three Logitech Squeezebox Boom radios connected to the internet (WiFi) via the MySqueezebox.com server.

Now Logitech has shut down the MySqueezebox.com server and we cannot find a way to connect the radios to the internet.

If MySqueezebox.com had been a subscription service our Squeezebox Boom radios might still be working vs. heading toward the recycle bin.

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Hate to repeat myself, but:  https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/should-you-trust-that-tech-info/#post-2679754

Win10 Pro x64 22H2, Win10 Home 22H2, Linux Mint + a cat with 'tortitude'.

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When a software publisher ends a product, or abandons a particular file format, there’s an easy solution: create a free, downloadable, read-only application than can read that file format and convert it and print it. Microsoft has done this for a long time with its Office line of products. If someone sends me a Visio file, which I don’t license, I can download a free Visio Reader to open the file, but not edit it.

There’s no revenue stream in doing this. What’s the point of having a license fee and a subscription fee if customers can work around the fees for free? This is a constant problem in closed-source software.

BTW, I have NOTHING on auto-renew. Not even my AARP membership. Also, nothing on “paperless billing”. I avoid “auto-pay” for similar reasons. No recourse if I ever have a dispute. And non paper trail to haul the so-and-so’s into court. And no court due to Mandatory Arbitration.

All hail the GNU Public License and the concept of the Copy-Left! Unfortunately, this model has no guaranteed revenue stream, which has caused a lot of open-source projects to collapse and never get revived as free offerings.

Copyrights originally were time-limited, and today there are extensions, but everything eventually lapses into Public Domain. Everything except old games, old software, etc. The code, the characters and any art associated with these orphaned titles is sometimes lost forever. Like silent films which literally rotted in vaults because no one saw any value in making them available again.

No base OS will ever be subscription-only or Cloud-only. Mark my words, there will never be a consumer-level or Small Business customer base for such nonsense.

All this said, when Macrium Reflect went over to a subscription-only model, I gladly snatched up four licenses at their Black Friday Deals Day. I continue to do that every year, even though they have been trying to trick people by offering an 18-month license just to stop people from always upgrading using the black Friday deals.

-- rc primak

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EricB wrote:

… a future iteration of Windows will call home to verify that there is an active, paid-up subscription …

I don’t think so. When I saw your comment, I reached out to a group of friends who have Apple equipment. To a person, none have ever paid for an O/S upgrade. That’s not to say that the O/S versions last forever; I eventually ditched my mac Mini because no further O/S updates were forthcoming. To continue with Apple, I would have needed to buy a new Mac.

Smartphones, both Apple and Android, do not require payment for O/S version updates.

If Microsoft put an annual price tag on Windows, it would immediately start to lose market share for those people who are not locked into Windows in some other way, such as using a line-of-business app or other software that is available only for Windows.

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AlexEiffel, PL1, rc primak

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There’s a big difference.  Apple sells hardware.  Essentially, Apple can coerce users into a hardware purchase by stopping hardware support and software fixes.  And smartphones follow the same strategy.

Microsoft doesn’t have the same span of control. Why should Microsoft settle on a one-time fee for a license associated with a consumer’s hardware purchase from an OEM when it can directly milk the consumer base on a regular basis during the lifecycle of any Windows release?  Billing a smaller monthly amount rather than an annual fee is some window dressing to make it easier for the market to digest.  Consumers are already accustomed to paying monthly for all kinds of subscriptions.  Why not Windows?  And if consumers were so quick to ditch Windows for an alternative Linux would already have a much more significant share of the pie than it presently does.  Inertia is a powerful force.  I’ll also guess that the consumer base would stay with Microsoft/Windows, something that they already are comfortable with, rather than have to learn a whole new environment.

Anyway, its all just speculation. 🙂

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EricB wrote:

Anyway, its all just speculation.

Same here. If I knew the future, I’d be sitting on a beach somewhere counting my money.

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rc primak

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Licensing software exclusively via a subscription [or per-use/per unit time] model is one of the biggest scams ever.

If a vendor won’t offer a perpetual license for a given version of their software, simply reject their offering.

From the software publisher’s point of view, SaaS/subscription based licensing is great! It’s essentially free recurring money from their customers. When they raise the subscription fees the customer either pays for renewal or they’re out of luck. Worst case: customer cancels their subscription after using the software for the term of their subscription. Best case: Customer setups up automatic billing, never uses the software again, forgets to cancel and is billed indefinitely.

One vendor I use offers their products & add-ons as perpetual licenses. A new license includes one year of support and free upgrades. At the end of each license year, customers can either purchase another year of support and free upgrades (for about 33% of a new license) or choose not to pay anything and continue using the software and updates they’ve received in perpetuity. Later, if that customer decides they want to upgrade, they’ll have to purchase a new license at the full cost (but their prior existing license is still perpetual and can still be used, just without further updates)

This scheme still allows the vendor to generate income from existing customers via support/upgrades while allowing customers to decide if the support and update quality/improvements are worth the renewal cost. If a customer decides the current renewal cost is not worth it, at least they still have the software [with upgrades they’ve received] and the legal authority to continue using the software.

With SaaS/subscription, your money is basically flushed down the toilet after the subscription ends.

Even with perpetual licensing, some vendors want to charge fees on a per-platform basis (Windows vs. Linux vs. Mac, etc.)  Knowing that the code is 99.5% identical between those releases can also make the idea of paying full price for the same product on a different platform difficult to swallow)

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hhodges

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I well remember when Adobe went to a subscription model for the photo apps some years ago.  there was a lot of outrage in the user community of photographers.  I stayed with Lightroom 5 (I think that was the last one) and Adobe guaranteed that it would work going forward but there would be no new features added.  I switched to the subscription bundle of Photoshop/Lightroom and have not looked back.  Credit to Adobe for incorporating lots of features that I regularly use and some of the new AI tools are quite nifty.  IIRC, the old Lightroom cycles were every two years and you had to pay a new fee to get the update.  Now I pay a reasonable amount to get updates faster.

I also have an Office 365 subscription, but it’s the basic one as I only need Excel, Outlook and Word.  My wife’s PC is also on the plan for an incremental cost.  This is the world we live in.

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Will Fastie

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agoldhammer wrote:

I switched to the subscription bundle of Photoshop/Lightroom and have not looked back.

Yes, I am on the verge of subscribing to the 20GB Photography plan at $10/month because lightroom may help me with my long-term digitization projects. The combo at that price is compelling because it would cost twice that much for Photoshop alone, and I don’t want Adobe cloud storage.

Still, I hesitate — there is no fallback for Lightroom.

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I will probably roll back to this plan when it next comes up for renewal.  I find myself hardly using Photoshop at all these days.  All of what I do can be adequately handled by Lightroom.  You are correct that there really is not a substitute for Lightroom.  I also don’t use Adobe for cloud storage.  The most cost effective approach for me is Amazon Web Services which interfaces with NovaBackup.  I think I pay $4/month for storage which includes all the work files that I have in addition to photos.

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Resisting the subscription tide:

Subscription Tricks

• Avoid automatic renewals
• Use a virtual credit card that you can have expire shortly after the charge.
• Pretend you are a new user.
• Let the subscription expire and wait for a lower price offer.

With the expired credit card trick, you then have a choice to renew or wait or move on. With one time credit cards, you avoid the difficult to cancel situations, for automatic renewals, which are sometimes required. Some companies give your first year a cheaper price when always a new customer. When you quit, some companies let you know of sales or a coupon code. These tricks don’t always work.

Some Software Subscription Suggestions

• Compare the subscription cost to a perpetual license over a time frame.
• Avoid software with YOUR data lost or defaced, when the subscription is stopped.
• Avoid software that does not have the means to move the license to a new device.
• Carefully determine the number of licenses and best license length up front, to get discounts.
• Avoid software companies taken over by private equity.
• A less featured product may be cheaper, but satisfies your requirements.
• Look for freeware with a donation option.

AskWoody frequently mentions lesser known software. Any one or more of these suggestions may not be possible.

Windows 10 22H2 desktops & laptops on Dell, HP, ASUS; No servers, no domain.

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US DOJ sues Adobe for subscription cancellation practices

…For years, Adobe has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms. Adobe fails to adequately disclose to consumers that by signing up for the “Annual, Paid Monthly” subscription plan (“APM plan”), they are agreeing to a year-long commitment and a hefty early termination fee (“ETF”) that can amount to hundreds of dollars. Adobe clearly discloses the ETF only when subscribers attempt to cancel, turning the stealth ETF into a powerful retention tool…by trapping consumers in subscriptions they no longer want…

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