[LordHumungous]

> For apps that run locally—no servers, no cloud costs—subscriptions make no sense anymore.

Did it ever make sense? I always scoffed at the idea of paying a subscription to use a text editor or paint tool.

[barnabee]

It never made sense, it was just possible to get away with it because there's often been no alternative for many people.

Good riddance to software subscriptions.

I hope proprietary software goes the same way entirely. If it's trivial to build an open source competitor, why pay for software can't modify (also trivially).

[benjiro]

> Good riddance to software subscriptions.

Counter argument ... at what point is software still profitable to be sold?

I am running my Office 2007 still, and that thing is now almost 20 years old. That was a one time sale, with no other revenue for Microsoft.

I am not condoning subscriptions but one time selling software only works good, if your a small team with low overhead. The more you sell, the more support becomes a issue. And normal customers do not pay for support.

Making software now has become easier with LLMs but the same problem keeps existing in regards to support. Sure, you can outsource this to LLMs but lets just say that is problematic (being kind).

So unless you plan on making software that is not heavily supported/updated, and keep a low single/team cost...

If you sold a program for a one time fee of ... $39.

What if somebody now sells the same for $29 with LLMs. And the next guy in China does it even cheaper because his overhead is even smaller. Eventually you get into abandonware where software is made to just eat sales from the bigger guy and that is it.

Unless you focus on companies, and they have way less issue paying for subscriptions (if it includes support). You see the issue. People kind of overlook the cost of actually running a self employed job or a company (this is a MAJOR cost the moment you need to hire somebody).

So no, i do not see subscriptions going away because companies will pay for it. And on the normal consumer level, paid support as the solution?

[colesantiago]

Agreed, the abundance of many apps and the fact that subscriptions and paid apps are going to zero means anyone can make an app for themselves or use an open source one.

No need to pay for someone else’s one.

[Sytten]

And we will all love from fresh water and love, can't wait for that world!

Seriously, you pay for software so people can make a living to improve it. It is a service like anything else.

[tonyedgecombe]

>Did it ever make sense? I always scoffed at the idea of paying a subscription to use a text editor or paint tool.

Whether it made sense for you is mostly irrelevant. The question is whether it worked for the developer. You can read endless complaints about Adobe's subscription model but the profits kept rolling in.

[bdcravens]

(Assuming you're okay with paying for software, just not an ongoing subscription)

Reasons why subscriptions may be a "better" than upfront licenses, even when the subscription cost more in the long run:

1. Cashflow management

2. Bypass budget approvals due to smaller amounts