Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:42 pm Post
Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:04 pm Post
JimRac wrote:What I worry about is Keith getting hit by a bus.
Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:11 pm Post
KB wrote:JimRac wrote:What I worry about is Keith getting hit by a bus.
I really hope lightning doesn't strike twice! Here's what happened the first time:
(Top tip: when you are drunk after celebrating getting your teaching qualification and you've missed the last train, don't cross busy roads in New Cross full of bendy buses.)
Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:28 pm Post
Jaaaarne wrote:Okay. Still, what is their motivation then?
Jaaaarne wrote:If somebody has installed software and subscribed, then they must find it useful the way it is. I don't think that they will just suddenly up up and away at some point.
Jaaaarne wrote:So if users are satisfied with functions and pricing when making this contract, and keep paying, then what motivation do the developers have?
Jaaaarne wrote:On the aside, their pricing does seem to target professionals. Which means inevitable drop in userbase. Whether the remaining users will be able to compensate for non-professionals who are less likely to subscribe, it remains to be seen.
Fri Aug 11, 2017 8:41 pm Post
Fri Aug 11, 2017 10:05 pm Post
After all, we have a system which currently works — after 14 years we are still around, Ulysses is still “a thing”, it’s even going better than ever before, and there are no immediate signs which hint at a change coming soon.
So why bother at all then? Well, we need a good way forward before we run into trouble. We want to make sure the app will be around for years and years to come. We want to heavily invest in its development, and this requires the right setting for our team, our families and our users. Writers want to rely on a professional tool that is constantly evolving, and we want to keep delivering just that.
Sat Aug 12, 2017 12:28 am Post
JimRac wrote:Jaaaarne wrote:Or staying on the old version, if that's an option.
Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:47 am Post
Sat Aug 12, 2017 12:24 pm Post
JimRac wrote:Jaaaarne wrote:So if users are satisfied with functions and pricing when making this contract, and keep paying, then what motivation do the developers have?
To stay in business. There are other tools out there. If the Ulysses guys sit on their butts and don't keep up with the other tools, then their customers will walk to the other tools.
Cinder6 wrote:spending $30 today nets me nothing more than nebulous promises.
Sat Aug 12, 2017 2:34 pm Post
Jaaaarne wrote:JimRac wrote:Jaaaarne wrote:So if users are satisfied with functions and pricing when making this contract, and keep paying, then what motivation do the developers have?
To stay in business. There are other tools out there. If the Ulysses guys sit on their butts and don't keep up with the other tools, then their customers will walk to the other tools.
You underestimate the users' severe dislike of changes. If everything works for their purposes and nothing gets broken, you will have to make a serious effort to get them to switch to another software. We had to literally drag employees by the hair back when we did a company-wide upgrade to MS Office 2013. And now people throw fits when we upgrade their corporate laptops to Windows 10 from Windows 7, even though it's mandatory and they have no say in it.
By the way, that's why the currently angry Ulysses users who can afford it are likely to grumble, but submit. People dislike changes. Switching to another software means spending time learning how to work it, instead of actually doing what you are supposed to do with it. Those who cannot afford it will be pressed to suck it up and learn new things, of course, but those who can are more likely to just pay. Like we say, a man is such an animal that will get used to anything.Unless, of course, they don't want to rent software on principle. But I predict that those people will get ironed out in the coming years.
So while I see how a software company would want to stay in business, I don't see how switching to a rental model would suddenly motivate them to deliver a better product, when their income is pretty much guaranteed.
Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:25 pm Post
Jaaaarne wrote:I may be wrong, of course, but with subscription model you are basically held hostage and have to trust the kidnappers on their word that they will treat you right and won’t kill you.
Tue Nov 21, 2017 6:26 pm Post
Jaaaarne wrote:brookter wrote:I can understand their dilemma. How do you make software pay in the long term and what are the long term consequences of having to produce a snazzy new update to keep the funds coming in? Take Omnifocus -- a really good program which was made less powerful (in my view) by a paid update which focused on cosmetics rather than features. Would that have happened if they'd been able to rely on a steady income? I paid for Omnifocus 1 and 2: never use them anymore...
I may be wrong, of course, but with subscription model you are basically held hostage and have to trust the kidnappers on their word that they will treat you right and won't kill you.
What motivation do the developers have to keep working on the app and adding new feautures, when subscription money will keep coming in regardless of what the developers do (or don't do)?
Paid updates I can understand. Subscriptions to web-based apps are also understandable (say, Office 365 suite, even though I personally don't use it at home). Even small subscriptions to priority support, or something. But charging a subscription fee for a locally installed app, regardless of whether it is updated or not... just because the developers have to eat... Well, I have to eat, too.We all have.
Somehow I don't see my employer willing to keep paying me for projects I have already completed long time ago.
Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:25 pm Post
Pavel wrote:I'm fully Adobe free and refuse to use use Office despite having it available for free through my school
Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:31 am Post
devinganger wrote:Pavel wrote:I'm fully Adobe free and refuse to use use Office despite having it available for free through my school
Small digression, but you *do* realize that Office is still available as a stand-alone suite that you can purchase non-subscription *as well* as the O365 subscription version, right? In this case, Microsoft is giving their customers the choice of which model is right for them. I would think that would be a good thing -- they're big enough to offer both options.
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