The New "subscription business model": Have you completely succumbed to it yet?

[GammaGlobulin]

Dear Folks,

 

I guess you know, if you are old enough to know, that.....just a few years ago.....

One could buy software, and that would be that.

One could use the software without any need to pay, and pay.

 

But, things have recently changed.

The market has become saturated.

And, these days, most companies have turned to the "subscription business model" in order to compensate.

 

I guess you also know that....once you subscribe to just about ANYTHING...then....companies make it almost impossible to cancel a subscription.

Or, sometimes they increase the charges on monthly subscriptions without one's express permission....just because....

This permission was granted when you signed up for the subscription....and just because one forgot to read the very fine print in the agreement.

 

Welcome to the new Mafia style "subscription business model".

 

What are your thoughts?

 

Would you, these days, dare to subscribe to any service, or software?

If you would, then are you a RISK-SEEKING personality Type?

 

In my view, during this new age of scamming by major corporations, this new "subscription business model" is basically rather corrosive to society, in general.

This model teaches our youth that this kind of thing is acceptable, when it is not.

 

So then, I just wonder:

 

Are you OK with signing for a subscription?

 

Or....

 

Would you now not even consider subscribing to almost anything?

 

I once subscribed to The New Yorker.

And I was pleased with my subscription.

I got good value for my money.

 

These days, I would never subscribe to any products from Microsoft, for example, such as Office.

These guys are now seeking a monthly payment to use their software products.

I say:  Go Flog Yourselves.....

 

 

I just wonder how much more BRAZEN these Huge Corporations will become before.....

Their House of Cards....

Comes completely tumbling down?

 

Best regards,

Gamma

 

Note:  By the way, I have heard tell, from my Chinese friends, several horror stories of people in China being compelled to actually cancel their credit cards....just in order to get rid of a monthly subscription for which they found no other way to cancel.

 

They contacted the company charging them, month by month, attempting to cancel their subscription, but found that there was no "button" to click to easily cancel.

Their only recourse was to completely cancel their credit card.

 

Note2:  I have stopped all my subscriptions, other than Google One, which i am grateful for.  Google One is good, and one can cancel at anytime. Also good service.

 

However, most other subscriptions, for software provided for a monthly fee...is a ripoff to me.

 

These guys remind me of....

 

THE PUSHER MAN.....

 

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

To the title ... NO, I don't, and probably wouldn't subscribe to anything.  I even use ad blocker, and if a site won't give me access, oh well, so be it.

 

Except for some invaluable info, freedom of speech, real news instead of MSM's lies, the world would be a better place without the internet.

 

People would actually interact again, have and live real lives, instead of though their devices.  Internet is an amazing info tool, but people really do need to unplug.

[GammaGlobulin]

Just now, KhunLA said:

To the title ... NO, I don't, and probably wouldn't subscribe to anything.  I even use ad blocker, and if a site won't give me access, oh well, so be it.

 

Except for some invaluable info, freedom of speech, real news instead of MSM's lies, the world would be a better place without the internet.

 

People would actually interact again, have and live real lives, instead of though their devices.  Internet is an amazing info tool, but people really do need to unplug.

 

 

But, whose fault is this strange subscription-mentality....anyway?

 

Of course:  It is the fault of LITTLE BUSH:

 

 

Never subscribe to NOTHING.....I tell you.

 

Buy your expensive camera lenses...and this is a great thing to do....ie.....spend your money wisely.

 

BUT, do not through your pearls before the SWINE and scammers that try to sell you subscriptions.

 

=============

 

By the way:

 

Any new good images of beautiful birds?

 

Two days ago....some really big and tall white bird landed in my yard.....

Such a beauty.

 

Had very long legs.

Plucked a very large worm or lizard out of my yard, and gulped it down.

Such a sight...

I almost cried with delight!

 

These are the things that make life worth living....and not....

Subscriptions, which are nothing more than an albatross around the necks of every man, woman, and child....on...

Planet Earth.

 

GodDamn....The Pusher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

 

Just say NO....to.....

Subscriptions.

 

Don't even click on them.....ever.

 

This is a Public Service Announcement from Gamma.

 

No need to thank me...because...

I have your best interests at heart.

 

Please don't fall into the trap.....

 

Note:  My YT is now completely BLOCKED....hahahaha.....

They want me to pay for YT....

 

But, I will NEVER do so.

 

So, this is why I was unable to upload the link to this important message from Nancy Reagan.

I love her so.

 

Just say NO....

 

 

[KhunLA]

I don't think I'll be needing Google One anytime soon, as it's taken me, 15-20 yrs, to use G's free storage account:   "4.66 GB of 15 GB used"

 

Mostly G Photos, which I don't really use anymore

YouTube, I have less than 600 vids on that, and most are short, under a few minutes.

 

I use FLICKR,  which I'm almost full up on the 1000 photos free account.  Used others, and lost all access, when they went to a subscription policy.  Why I'll never use another free service, for anything, as suspect they'd do the same, and I'd lose access.  

 

Why I have a bunch of external hard drives, for media storage.

[KhunLA]

I use a cracked version of 'LR' - Lightroom for photo editing.  As subscription is a bit expensive per month, and don't really need it.  

 

Bought Topaz photo editing software, cheap during a promotion.  If really needing more software, I'd buy their upgraded versions or something else.   Most free editing software is OK, unless you really suck at photography.  I really don't need to edit my photos much, though it does clean them up a bit, especially Topaz software, DeNoise.

 

Wife uses cracked version of PhotoShop.  That's about the only software we use.  We don't subscribe to anything.

 

Torrents for movies & TV series.   If they put out anything of quality, I might even feel guilty about it.  But can't think of 1 movie, I'd actually pay $5 to watch, as $5 was the matinee price of last movie I saw in the theater at USA, (1999) The Matrix.

 

Stopped going to movies in TH, and don't think I ever paid more than 80-100 baht / $3, and only a few times, and long time ago.  Never was a TV watching person.  What little TV that I did watch, I taped, VHS, to FF through the commercials ... yea, that long ago.

 

Never subscribed to a cable service, as didn't see the value, to stare at a box.  Enjoy living life outdoors or in the bedroom.  Staring at other people on TV never interested me.

[GammaGlobulin]

32 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

lost all access, when they went to a subscription policy.

 

Yes.

As we are finding out, rather quickly, this seems to be the new business model.

 

I may be mistaken, however....I am very satisfied paying a very minimal amount for over 5 TBytes of storage, which has proved to be reliable.

 

So, I do not want to imply that ALL subscriptions are corrosive.

 

I will keep Google One.

But, as for any others.....

I have cancelled....including the monthly payments I was making for a website.

 

Instead, one can use a free service, maybe, such as GitHub....or something else....

 

 

The only point I was making is that the new pervasive shift towards subscriptions instead of buying something....is....

The answer to the prayers of companies wishing to suck money on a monthly basis.

 

Why would one acquiesce and fall into this trap....unless....one were also a buyer of lottery tickets?

 

Only a fool would.....probably....if a fool believes what YT tells them to believe.....

 

 

 

What a fool believes....5555555555555555555555555555555555

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

15 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I'd buy their upgraded versions or something else. 

 

This is the point.

 

Most software companies are NO LONGER selling their software license of use.

 

Instead, they are switching to a monthly subscription.

 

This is the problem.

They think they can get more money and avoid piracy by using this business model.

 

However, what they are really doing is driving us all to OPEN-SOURCE software.

 

Linux....FOREVER......!!!

 

The more users who shift to Linux, the better for the Open-Source movement.

 

We will get there...but....

It might still require another decade.

 

OF COURSE:  We users of Open-Source Software are still very willing to pay for the software.  But, we are not willing to pay for a subscription to the software.

 

 

 

 

[Ralf001]

Yeah I have a few subs.

 

Youtube.

Spotify.

Netflix.

Prime.

Plex.

Google Drive.

Solidworks (yearly licence).

Catia (yearly licence).

 

Not seeing the issue to be honest.

 

[GammaGlobulin]

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

Yeah I have a few subs.

 

Youtube.

Spotify.

Netflix.

Prime.

Plex.

Google Drive.

Solidworks.

Catia.

 

Not seeing the issue to be honest.

 

 

Typical

THX-1138

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Yes.

As we are finding out, rather quickly, this seems to be the new business model.

 

I may be mistaken, however....I am very satisfied paying a very minimal amount for over 5 TBytes of storage, which has proved to be reliable.

 

So, I do not want to imply that ALL subscriptions are corrosive.

 

I will keep Google One.

But, as for any others.....

I have cancelled....including the monthly payments I was making for a website.

 

Instead, one can use a free service, maybe, such as GitHub....or something else....

 

 

The only point I was making is that the new pervasive shift towards subscriptions instead of buying something....is....

The answer to the prayers of companies wishing to suck money on a monthly basis.

 

Why would one acquiesce and fall into this trap....unless....one were also a buyer of lottery tickets?

 

Only a fool would.....probably....if a fool believes what YT tells them to believe.....

 

 

 

What a fool believes....5555555555555555555555555555555555

I used GeoCities, they stopped after Yahoo bought it ... that really sucked, as had a lot on it

 

WebShots is another, went subscription, thankfully in my early days of photography here, so not much lost, and I probably have back up somewhere, on a hard drive  

 

I have VHS diving vids, that I never converted to digital.   No major loss, as not like I'd watching them over & over, or show to people ... the dreaded home movie syndrome of decades past.

 

Local forum in Udon Thani, most of used a free photo upload service, and they went belly up, or major server crash, so all photos on the forum lost access to ... oops 

 

I lost trust in just about everything 

[GammaGlobulin]

7 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Not seeing the issue to be honest.

 

Do I need to explain to you how Gym Memberships work?

Try to use your brain, for once, please.....!!!!

 

This is basically the same business model.

 

[Ralf001]

Just now, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Do I need to explain to you how Gym Memberships work?

Try to use your brain, for once, please.....!!!!

 

This is basically the same business model.

 

 

Gym memberships ?.

 

I do not believe I included such a thing in my post.

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

This is the point.

 

Most software companies are NO LONGER selling their software license of use.

 

Instead, they are switching to a monthly subscription.

 

This is the problem.

They think they can get more money and avoid piracy by using this business model.

 

However, what they are really doing is driving us all to OPEN-SOURCE software.

 

Linux....FOREVER......!!!

 

The more users who shift to Linux, the better for the Open-Source movement.

 

We will get there...but....

It might still require another decade.

 

OF COURSE:  We users of Open-Source Software are still very willing to pay for the software.  But, we are not willing to pay for a subscription to the software.

I used all open source resources for my DIY drone building, when it was cheaper & better to build your own.  Now they are better and inexpensive just to buy.

 

Did take all the fun out of out, and even the wife noticed, I enjoyed building them, more than operating them.   An addicting hobby.

 

Even those open source sites aren't updated, as not used much now.   I haven't built one in so long, I probably couldn't.   As the software to do, was on an older laptop, that died long ago.   Forget how to program the flight controller or GPS modules.

 

Retired my DIY drones anyway, ran out of batteries, and can't trust any vendors for new ones.   Damn expensive also, as can buy a drone for the price of a battery now.

[ElwoodP]

offensive post moved.

[jippytum]

One thing i notice when browsing UK newspapers they commonly ask you to join a subscription to the newspaper if you want to  finish the atricle you have begun reading. 

I decline and move on

[Lacessit]

Linux is free. Publicly funded news outlets are free. There are also non-publicly funded companies who rely on donations and advertising. Like ASEAN NOW does.

 

Even porn is free.

 

 I subscribed to Netflix until it ran out of anything interesting/new. That was years ago. Since then, nothing.

[soi3eddie]

1. Office 365 as I need to use Outlook
2. Cyberlink Power Director 365

The benefit to me of subscriptions is regular feature (and bug/security) updates to the software.

 

Recently, Acronis back-up, tried to push an annual subscription on me but no thanks. They still offered purchase (I hadn't upgraded for years), but they made finding and buying the one off purchase very difficult.

 

As for operating systems, when was the last time anyone paid for one recently? Last time I bought an OS was Windows 10 for a self built PC in 2015. Nowadays, buying a pre-built PC or laptop, the OS is inludeded and gets free upgrades such as from Win 10 to Win 11. Expect that to continue.

 

[jacnl2000]

\

3 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

<snipped>

As for operating systems, when was the last time anyone paid for one recently?

<snipped>

 

Operating systems happen to change. Software running on these systems needs to be maintained. My crystal ball isn't perfect. Maintenance costs money. So, subscription models exist... I prefer buying perpetuals with life-long updates especially when the functionality depends upon unpredictable behavior of inaccessible third parties involved.

 

[scottiejohn]

4 minutes ago, jacnl2000 said:

Operating systems happen to change. Software running on these systems needs to be maintained.

Download the Torrent version of the software and update as required!

All free!

PS;  Have a good anti virus/malware protection JIC!

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

This is the point.

 

Most software companies are NO LONGER selling their software license of use.

 

Instead, they are switching to a monthly subscription.

 

This is the problem.

They think they can get more money and avoid piracy by using this business model.

 

However, what they are really doing is driving us all to OPEN-SOURCE software.

 

Linux....FOREVER......!!!

 

The more users who shift to Linux, the better for the Open-Source movement.

 

We will get there...but....

It might still require another decade.

 

OF COURSE:  We users of Open-Source Software are still very willing to pay for the software.  But, we are not willing to pay for a subscription to the software.

 

 

 

 

35 Best Free and Open Source Apps for Windows 11 (2024) | Beebom

[GammaGlobulin]

45 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

35 Best Free and Open Source Apps for Windows 11 (2024) | Beebom

 

Rufus is great and it's free, but....

 

Are you going to use Rufus to write your MA Thesis?

No.

You might need to use MS Word.

Is MS Word free?

No.

It's now provided by subscription.

And, many institutions require Word for interoperability.

So...

Word Sucks if it's a subscription.

 

Rufus does NOT suck.

Rufus is not MS software.

 

[GammaGlobulin]

6 hours ago, jippytum said:

One thing i notice when browsing UK newspapers they commonly ask you to join a subscription to the newspaper if you want to  finish the atricle you have begun reading. 

I decline and move on

 

Another word for this is PAY WALL.

But, the idiots running these newspapers do not understand that PAYWALLs are actually counterproductive.

I think I uploaded an article weeks back which supported this reality.

 

So, you are correct:  Just move on until these pay-walls go away.

(probably not worth your time, to read, anyway. Most writers are bad writers, these days, and I do not want to mention names, here)

 

 

 

[scottiejohn]

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Is MS Word free?

By Torrent it is!

 

[novacova]

15 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

The New "subscription business model": Have you completely succumbed to it yet?

No, not at all and have absolutely no subscriptions for anything and don’t subscribe to most of what I read on TV/AN

[it is what it is]

 

guess you also know that....once you subscribe to just about ANYTHING...then....companies make it almost impossible to cancel a subscription.

 

have to disagree, i've taken advantage of many 'free' access to a websites/services before the subscription kicks in, i;ve always been able to cancel as required, it's not difficult.

[GammaGlobulin]

3 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

By Torrent it is!

 

 

Now you are getting into a grey area, somewhere where I no longer am willing to be.

I got rid of MS.

Thank the Lord!

And, thank Linux, too.

And, thank KDE, as well.

And, thank Linus, also.

 

[novacova]

2 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

By Torrent it is!

 

Downloading MS products off of torrents and goofy hacks isn’t necessary to getting around paying for MS software 

[liddelljohn]

Why pay for ripoff Subscriptions when its all available for free with  a little research

for instance

 

Microsoft Oriffice    instead use Open Office  free,

BBC  dont pay license  just say you only use online  repeats

Premier league  or TV show use Kodi   its all free

 and so on   and so on

[jas007]

I have a few subscriptions, but I try to keep it to a minimum and, if possible, I subscribe through the Apple App Store.  When you subscribe that way, Apple makes it very easy to cancel.  You can do it right in the "settings" app.  

 

I  pay for some music subscriptions:

 

-Apple One which includes Apple Musi and some cloud space. 

-Tidal

-Qobuz

-Roon

 

I also subscribe to a couple of health apps.

 

-Welltory

-Athlytic

 

Anyway, I feel the subscriptions are worth it to me. 

 

I have had my fair share of problems, though,  One time, I was finding it almost impossible to fully cancel Hulu.  I supposedly canceled through their website, but they kept charging my card every month.  I finally gave up and cancelled the credit card that they were charging every month.  Success! No more Hulu. I just changed to another Capital One card with a different account number. 

 

And I once had a problem with a Microsoft subscription.  One time, I got a free Office subscription with something I bought at Best Buy. I tried to get it installed and working, but I never succeeded, so I forgot about it.  Until one year later when they tried to charge me  $119.00 for another year of something I never used.  I finally managed to get refunded on that, after much aggravation.  

 

I forgot, I also sometimes pay for a subscription to Tradingview, when I'm actively trading stocks.  Lately, I'm not doing much of that. Mostly just buy and hold. I can use the free version if I just want to look at some basic charts.