I think a large part of the problem is that so much software (like Office) is turning into a service when it doesn’t need to be.
One significant advantage of SaaS over traditional download-and-run-and-pay-for-updates apps is the fact that everyone is always on the same version. In a large organisation, and across organisational boundaries, working around people using different versions of things is an incredibly inefficient use of time.
Office 365 is worth the money for that reason alone.
> One significant advantage of SaaS over traditional download-and-run-and-pay-for-updates apps is the fact that everyone is always on the same version.
This is undeniably an advantage to the developer, but much less so for users. When a developer releases a terrible update that removes features or does an unnecessary re-design, in the world of non-SaaS, I could simply choose to stay on the older version. Now that choice is gone and the company is in charge of what version I am using. This is a huge step backwards.
I expect when I obtain software, it will continue to work forever, behave the same way forever, until/unless I choose to update it. That fundamental promise is going away quickly.
Maybe I’ve been lucky and only worked in well-resourced corporations, but across a ~15 year career in the private sector, I can barely think of any examples where this is the case.
Ironically, a far greater pain point (in my experience) has been poor interchangeability and access to cloud storage solutions between internal and external collaborators.
Well the same is true with any selfhosted office suite. With of course the main difference that Office365 is limited by Microsoft APIs, and downtime is not dictated by your bug usage or infra. Good luck working when Azure is down or your have connectivity problems.
Agreed. I think that part of the problem is that SAAS makes 'bought' software look expensive which has driven down the prices on eg iOS App Store to a level that isn't viable.
Indeed, this is one of the bigger problems. Big Tech have normalised a situation where free (but you pay for it in other ways) or misleading SaaS (total cost much higher, although cheaper in the short run) are dominant and smaller developers struggle to compete against this
The value I get from and the price I pay for O365 are more closely aligned than when I used to buy shrink-wrapped software. “This software costs $299 in months 0 and some unknown month in the future, probably between 25 and 42, and is free in all the other months.” is how things used to work.
I hate recurring billing as well, and it works very poorly for occasionally used software, but for software that I use every week, I’m indifferent to whether it’s billed lumpy or smooth; the total price vs total value is what matters.
onion2k|4 years ago
One significant advantage of SaaS over traditional download-and-run-and-pay-for-updates apps is the fact that everyone is always on the same version. In a large organisation, and across organisational boundaries, working around people using different versions of things is an incredibly inefficient use of time.
Office 365 is worth the money for that reason alone.
ryandrake|4 years ago
This is undeniably an advantage to the developer, but much less so for users. When a developer releases a terrible update that removes features or does an unnecessary re-design, in the world of non-SaaS, I could simply choose to stay on the older version. Now that choice is gone and the company is in charge of what version I am using. This is a huge step backwards.
I expect when I obtain software, it will continue to work forever, behave the same way forever, until/unless I choose to update it. That fundamental promise is going away quickly.
tyingq|4 years ago
Those two editions often cannot properly render documents made in the other one.
mft_|4 years ago
Ironically, a far greater pain point (in my experience) has been poor interchangeability and access to cloud storage solutions between internal and external collaborators.
southerntofu|4 years ago
klelatti|4 years ago
math-dev|4 years ago
sokoloff|4 years ago
I hate recurring billing as well, and it works very poorly for occasionally used software, but for software that I use every week, I’m indifferent to whether it’s billed lumpy or smooth; the total price vs total value is what matters.