Software subscriptions: progressive or premature?

Office News - Software subscriptions: #progressive or #premature?
Like Adobe, we think subscription software-as-a-service is the future. The
benefits to consumers are huge. Subscribers are always up-to-date. They get the
latest and most complete applications. They can use subscriptions across the
multitude of devices people use today. Web services like SkyDrive and
applications like Skype are also more easily integrated with subscription
services, like the new Office 365 Home Premium.

However, unlike Adobe, we think people's shift from packaged software to
subscription services will take time. Within a decade, we think everyone will
choose to subscribe because the benefits are undeniable. In the meantime, we are
committed to offering choice--premier software sold as a package and powerful
services sold as a subscription.

As proof of this point, since the launch of Office 365 Home Premium and Office
365 University in January, more than a quarter of consumers buying Office have
chosen the subscription. This exceeded our expectations, given that software
subscriptions are relatively new to most consumers. So, perhaps the shift is
happening faster than we originally thought, and Adobe is helping blaze the
trail.
 
Well, according to Microsoft, they're still going to be offering a local offline version of Office for the long haul; but it's inevitable that the 365 model will be commonplace. Adobe isn't pussy footing around with that though as they're just going all out for the cloud setup.

But I believe with Office 365, there are GENUINE cost savings to have had over the stand-alone equivalent of Office 2013 Pro Plus. With Adobe's model, I'll have to find more details to be fully sure as it seems if they offer the WHOLE CS suite in the Creative Cloud model, there aren't actual cost savings. In two years at 50 dollars a month, it's roughly the same price as buying the CS 6 Suite straight up.
 

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1. In the future, there will be no choice, so anyone wanting the 'traditional' software will have to go subscription.

2. The benefits to corporations are huge, guaranteed, recurring income.

3. People may simply be trying out the subscription services to see how they work, it's somewhat premature to make predictions on just a few months of operation.

4. Make the 'premier' packages unaffordable and force consumers to a subscription service.
 

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I'm no finance person, but if you can control the variable costs, or even better convert that into fixed cost, then the bean-counters will be happy :confused:
 

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Well, according to Microsoft, they're still going to be offering a local offline version of Office for the long haul; but it's inevitable that the 365 model will be commonplace. Adobe isn't pussy footing around with that though as they're just going all out for the cloud setup.

But I believe with Office 365, there are GENUINE cost savings to have had over the stand-alone equivalent of Office 2013 Pro Plus. With Adobe's model, I'll have to find more details to be fully sure as it seems if they offer the WHOLE CS suite in the Creative Cloud model, there aren't actual cost savings. In two years at 50 dollars a month, it's roughly the same price as buying the CS 6 Suite straight up.

Hi there
@Cokie You might be computer savvy but your Economics is definitely seriously screwed -- even by your own words you say at 50 USD a month that's the same cost as CS6 after TWO YEARS --- then of course it will COST MORE !!! and that's if there is no price (OR TAX) increases too .

Most HOME users of things like Office or photo shop often use them for YEARS without needing to upgrade to the newer version -- CS2 for example -- now "Abandonware" and freely downloadable from the adobe site is more than sufficient for about 99% of HOME Photoshop users - the only really new feature that is possibly a "Must Have" is the 3D processing available in CS6 - but that's quite liveable without anyway. Office 2007 still does 99.999% of what Office 2013 does and even Office 2003 can still do most of what a typical non power home user requires.

There's NO WAY that Office 365 paid for monthly (or even annually) is cheaper than Office 2007 -- which I got (and 2010 too) via a Use at Home type of program and the Office 2007 Home and Student editions were very cheap and allowed use on 3 computers.

I have more than enough software (and Hardware) to last me for YEARS yet --assuming I live that long - so there is NO WAY AT ALL that I'm going to join the "Pay Monthly" Club.

For Big businesses things like Leasing are well known and sometimes beneficial to corporations using those services - but for individuals the benefits are usually very much less if any - and remember businesses get operating expenses as tax reliefs - not usually available for individuals (although in some Nordic countries it is possible to get some SMALL relief for "Educational use" ).

Once individuals get suckered into this quagmire they will be really surprised at what they will be paying out every month.
In fact it would probably be a sobering exercise for ANYBODY reading this who is currently working or on a pension to sit down and actually write on a piece of paper or a spread sheet EVERYTHING they get a regular bill for -- most people will be horrified I suspect at their outgoings. !!

As I said -- Subscription Software -- I'm OUTT'A HERE -- FAST FAST FAST. Better get the Linux textbooks out again !! Never too old (or Young) to learn.

Edit : Update : Alex Ferguson (Man Utd FC Manager) HAS JUST resigned -- just confirmed while listening via the web to BBC R5 Live. So nothing wrong with News speculation and Rumours. !!

Finally @ Ray 8

You won't be able to FORCE people into paying subscriptions for premium packages by making the stand alone versions too expensive -- there are always methods of buying (or acquiring) older versions - there are even some stores around who make a good living by selling LEGAL outdated or Back level software - and if this fails there are also "The usual places".

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Pure unbridled greed. I think tho most companies will fail at this, as other co's will offer traditional ownable softwares and people will flock to that.
 

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I work for a company who had done software subscriptions for years now. It works well, customers can cancel to reduce costs when they don't need something and can ramp up when busy. And it gives us a regular predictable revenue stream, so we can continue to develop and improve in a steady manner.

I'm quite open to this model as long as my costs are reasonable. For example, I think office 365 is very fair for 5 installs.
 

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Good comments and I don't agree with the subscription model whatsoever. It will drive costs up. I'm thinking this is their solution to piracy. They're seeking to take control over it.

We had a thread recently on that subject. Some stated that piracy helps to keep the cost down. Will it now?
 

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If they can eliminate Piracy and "disable" the old versions of programs, the subscription price will skyrocket.

As jimbo45 pointed out, "Big Businesses" will be able to claim the cost back off of their tax bills, so the subscription price is irrelevant to them.

OTOH, ordinary people may just swap (knowingly or unknowingly) to pirated (old) versions of MS Office and Adobe CS (assuming they can't be disabled).
 

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That is hilarious.

The title reminds me of the famous

"When did you stop beating your wife"

Whoever crafted that piece must think the intended audience is staggeringly naive.
 

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Well, according to Microsoft, they're still going to be offering a local offline version of Office for the long haul; but it's inevitable that the 365 model will be commonplace. Adobe isn't pussy footing around with that though as they're just going all out for the cloud setup.

But I believe with Office 365, there are GENUINE cost savings to have had over the stand-alone equivalent of Office 2013 Pro Plus. With Adobe's model, I'll have to find more details to be fully sure as it seems if they offer the WHOLE CS suite in the Creative Cloud model, there aren't actual cost savings. In two years at 50 dollars a month, it's roughly the same price as buying the CS 6 Suite straight up.

Hi there
@Cokie You might be computer savvy but your Economics is definitely seriously screwed -- even by your own words you say at 50 USD a month that's the same cost as CS6 after TWO YEARS --- then of course it will COST MORE !!! and that's if there is no price (OR TAX) increases too .

Most HOME users of things like Office or photo shop often use them for YEARS without needing to upgrade to the newer version -- CS2 for example -- now "Abandonware" and freely downloadable from the adobe site is more than sufficient for about 99% of HOME Photoshop users - the only really new feature that is possibly a "Must Have" is the 3D processing available in CS6 - but that's quite liveable without anyway. Office 2007 still does 99.999% of what Office 2013 does and even Office 2003 can still do most of what a typical non power home user requires.

There's NO WAY that Office 365 paid for monthly (or even annually) is cheaper than Office 2007 -- which I got (and 2010 too) via a Use at Home type of program and the Office 2007 Home and Student editions were very cheap and allowed use on 3 computers.

I have more than enough software (and Hardware) to last me for YEARS yet --assuming I live that long - so there is NO WAY AT ALL that I'm going to join the "Pay Monthly" Club.

For Big businesses things like Leasing are well known and sometimes beneficial to corporations using those services - but for individuals the benefits are usually very much less if any - and remember businesses get operating expenses as tax reliefs - not usually available for individuals (although in some Nordic countries it is possible to get some SMALL relief for "Educational use" ).

Once individuals get suckered into this quagmire they will be really surprised at what they will be paying out every month.
In fact it would probably be a sobering exercise for ANYBODY reading this who is currently working or on a pension to sit down and actually write on a piece of paper or a spread sheet EVERYTHING they get a regular bill for -- most people will be horrified I suspect at their outgoings. !!

As I said -- Subscription Software -- I'm OUTT'A HERE -- FAST FAST FAST. Better get the Linux textbooks out again !! Never too old (or Young) to learn.

Edit : Update : Alex Ferguson (Man Utd FC Manager) HAS JUST resigned -- just confirmed while listening via the web to BBC R5 Live. So nothing wrong with News speculation and Rumours. !!

Finally @ Ray 8

You won't be able to FORCE people into paying subscriptions for premium packages by making the stand alone versions too expensive -- there are always methods of buying (or acquiring) older versions - there are even some stores around who make a good living by selling LEGAL outdated or Back level software - and if this fails there are also "The usual places".

Cheers
jimbo
My economics are straight. :)

For example with Office 365, you have two choices of 10 dollars per month or 100 dollars per year. Of course the whole year subscription is a better deal. In Office 365 Home Premium, the package equivalent is of Office 2013 Pro Plus, a 500 dollar software suite as well as about 20 gigs extra of SkyDrive storage. Big difference here is that you can use this one subscription on five PCs, so in an enterprise situation, that one year subscription on five PCs will cost 20 dollars per PC a year versus 500 dollars a PC natively installed on the hard drive. Another difference is that when the next version of Office is released, you get that automatically whereas if you go and buy Pro Plus 2013, you will have to skip out the next version to get any cost benefit there. Basically, in three years, you save about 200 dollars per release cycle of Office (considering Office is released every three years or so) versus a stand-alone install of Pro Plus, which is the 365 Home Premium equivalent. You will also get the next release of Office automatically versus having to go out and buy a stand-alone copy again. Add in the five PCs per one subscription, that cost savings start compounding.

But with Adobe CC, unless if I'm wrong with the software suite's cost (I only have Photoshop CS6 installed so I can't tell what the WHOLE Creative Suite costs) at 50 dollars a month, there isn't any actual cost savings other than say a much lower asking price. It makes me think of phone contracts where you can have a 600 dollar phone for "free" but pay about 100 dollars a month for two years.

I'm really not too concerned about the licensing/subscription of software as long as it's reasonable such as Office 365. Adobe CC, not so much, as far as I can tell but I need to find out more myself. If I pay less in a course of a release cycle than if I would a stand-alone copy, I see no problems there.

And yeah, I've said this elsewhere, either purchases of Adobe CS 6 will really go up soon, or pirated versions, or both.
 

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Good comments and I don't agree with the subscription model whatsoever. It will drive costs up. I'm thinking this is their solution to piracy. They're seeking to take control over it.

We had a thread recently on that subject. Some stated that piracy helps to keep the cost down. Will it now?

Doubt it, unless if a HUGE percentage of a company's software is pirated, then yes. Something like Windows 7, I think even Microsoft stated a while ago at a design conference that there were about 100 million pirated copies of 7 out of the 600 million altogether. That's considerable theft, but I don't know if it keeps cost down significantly.

The only reason I see for subscription services of software is both anti-piracy and not having to support older code. Just imagine if Microsoft didn't, in its early days, quickly release xp security updates when they were developing Windows Longhorn. Part of that story with the Longhorn failure was because xp updating took a lot out of the Windows team and effort towards Longhorn.
 

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Home users will always have a lot of options. GIMP may take advantage of this by selling their software at a minimum cost but I'm sure, no one would mind. Same with OpenOffice. So, everyone, head to the adobe site right now and download the FREE Photoshop CS2 while the site is still up. And buy your copy of MS Office 2007 now before it runs out. :) I got my MS Office 2007 as a gift. I don't think I need an upgrade. They may be old but they will still be useful for at least the next 10 years. And... they are genuine copies.
 

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GIMP may take advantage of this by selling their software at a minimum cost but I'm sure, no one would mind. Same with OpenOffice.
Umm isn't GIMP and Open Office free?

If you already have sufficient licenses for Microsoft Office it makes no sense at all to upgrade to 365.

In my case I already have 4 licenses for Office 2010. Office 2010 is supported up to 2020 and more than adequate for any home/small business user. If I changed to 365 I would gain one unneeded license and access to programs I don't need all for the cost of $1155 in our Banana republic dollars between now and 2020. I think I need those dollars more than Microsoft does.

Even after it is no longer supported there is no major reason to stop using it.

If Microsoft keeps up its new pricing model I think Office 2010 will be my last Office version.
 

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GIMP may take advantage of this by selling their software at a minimum cost but I'm sure, no one would mind. Same with OpenOffice.
Umm isn't GIMP and Open Office free?

If you already have sufficient licenses for Microsoft Office it makes no sense at all to upgrade to 365.

In my case I already have 4 licenses for Office 2010. Office 2010 is supported up to 2020 and more than adequate for any home/small business user. If I changed to 365 I would gain one unneeded license and access to programs I don't need all for the cost of $1155 in our Banana republic dollars between now and 2020. I think I need those dollars more than Microsoft does.

Even after it is no longer supported there is no major reason to stop using it.

If Microsoft keeps up its new pricing model I think Office 2010 will be my last Office version.
Microsoft will keep offering a stand-alone Office suite for probably until 2020.
 

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I'll tell you right now - Subscription-based software is not immune to Piracy. Also, what may arise, is Subscription Sharing. One guy Buys the subscription, others also can log in and split the cost. Usually access is granted by a user name and a login, but lately the developers have been making Dumb Terminal Software, that installs on the PC but only allows access after authentication is made.

A world where that is the only form of software, would suck.
 

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Microsoft will keep offering a stand-alone Office suite for probably until 2020.

Yes but look how the price has gone up by a huge amount. Home and student used to be around $180 (in NZ dollars) for 3 installs. It is now $239 for one. So to upgrade my 3 licenses of Home and Student will cost $717.
 

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    Other Info
    Win 8.1.1 and Office 2013 via Virtualbox
If they can eliminate Piracy and "disable" the old versions of programs, the subscription price will skyrocket.
I think Microsoft are (sort of) disabling old versions because they control which versions of Windows work with the latest versions of Office (only Windows 7 or 8) and also which versions of Office work with the latest versions of Windows (not Office 2003, in theory anyway, on Windows 8)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
GIMP may take advantage of this by selling their software at a minimum cost but I'm sure, no one would mind. Same with OpenOffice.
Umm isn't GIMP and Open Office free?

If you already have sufficient licenses for Microsoft Office it makes no sense at all to upgrade to 365.

In my case I already have 4 licenses for Office 2010. Office 2010 is supported up to 2020 and more than adequate for any home/small business user. If I changed to 365 I would gain one unneeded license and access to programs I don't need all for the cost of $1155 in our Banana republic dollars between now and 2020. I think I need those dollars more than Microsoft does.

Even after it is no longer supported there is no major reason to stop using it.

If Microsoft keeps up its new pricing model I think Office 2010 will be my last Office version.
Microsoft will keep offering a stand-alone Office suite for probably until 2020.

Hi there
I Really can't understand where you are coming from -- you seem to change your mind at the drop of a hat -- you first say Subscription is CHEAPER - but then when you are talking about costs of over 1100 USD it really makes NO sense especially if you don't WANT or need the wretched stuff to run on 5 computers -- remembering anyway that Office and Student edition of Office 2007 / 2010 also ran on 3 computers at a cost of around 80 USD --and there were all sorts of cheap alternative subscriptions like Use at Home offers.

Then now you add stuff like Stand alone Office (2010 / 2013) will be available until 2013 -- so Go figure !!.

I sometimes suspect - even though you are obviously enthusiastic about computers and technology in general -- how much experience do you ACTUALLLY have in the real world -- for instance I don't think in all your posts you've ever made where I've ever actually seen a single SCREENSHOT of examples of what you are trying to say.

You need to get real -- 99% of normal users (not Corporate entities) will be FAR FAR worse off using a subscription based Software pricing model. - Obvious --if companies thought people would pay LESS why on earth would they then promote this model.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
GIMP may take advantage of this by selling their software at a minimum cost but I'm sure, no one would mind. Same with OpenOffice.
Umm isn't GIMP and Open Office free?

If you already have sufficient licenses for Microsoft Office it makes no sense at all to upgrade to 365.

In my case I already have 4 licenses for Office 2010. Office 2010 is supported up to 2020 and more than adequate for any home/small business user. If I changed to 365 I would gain one unneeded license and access to programs I don't need all for the cost of $1155 in our Banana republic dollars between now and 2020. I think I need those dollars more than Microsoft does.

Even after it is no longer supported there is no major reason to stop using it.

If Microsoft keeps up its new pricing model I think Office 2010 will be my last Office version.

I know it's free. I'm saying if subscriptions are going to be very costly, GimP & openoffice might take advantage and charge a little bit. Consumers may not have a better alternative but to take a bite on it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 (64) : Win 7 (64) : Vista (64) : Android JB 4.2 : iOS 6
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AX Series & HP i-5 2400s
    Screen Resolution
    Main PC - 2x Sony PS3 3D LED Displays + 1x 22" Philips; HTPC - 47" HDTV w/ 17" LCD secondary display
    Hard Drives
    Internal- 1TB on each system; 1x120GB SSD on main PC
    External (network attached)- 1x2TB Seagate backup; 1x1TB ext. storage; 1x500GB,
    Other Info
    http://tinyurl.com/br4uxrk

    http://tinyurl.com/cwj93pj
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