There are four things that have become increasingly irritating to me: The increase in advertising in damn near everything; The expectation that everything requires an app; The increasing “connectedness” of the things we use; and, the shift to a subscription model for almost all software. Today I want to focus on the subscription model.

The Issue#

The main issue is that so many software companies have shifted to a subscription model for their software. But it’s not just software. Certain “features” of appliances and cars, and it seems many other things that we use and depend on have increasingly starting requiring subscriptions for their use. Some of this parallels the increasing expectation that we will be online and connected and a shift toward connected services which basically means that unless you are connected you don’t have access to those services.

To Be Fair#

Now, to be fair, I do understand, at least to an extent, why companies would do this and it’s not always just greed (though it usually is, in my opinion.) It costs money to create, maintain and update software. Simply staying ahead of security issues can be a significant cost. And those costs have to be covered in some way.

Moreover, software is something that people may buy and use for years without updating. So, unlike many products that are consumed requiring frequent replacement or replenishment, software can be used for years. This, of course, means that companies don’t have a steady stream of income going forward. To compensate, they look to subscription services to ensure a steady stream of income.

The Argument for Subscriptions#

In most cases, at least with software, the argument for subscriptions is that you, the consumer, always have the latest, up-to-date software with the latest features and security fixes. On the surface that sounds pretty reasonable. This means, among other things, that you don’t have to periodically update and buy new versions of the software – you’ve always got the latest version.

The Problem From My Perspective#

For me, though, there are several problems with that argument.

First, do I need the latest version? For my uses, the answer is “no”. A rather resounding “no”, in fact. Why? I don’t do a lot of exotic things with most of my software. Take MS Word, for example, I write basic documents. Of all the “features” in MS Word, I probably use less than half a dozen. Adding new features provides no additional value for me. It simply clutters up the menu system, making using the software that much more confusing. And I think that’s probably true for the majority of users. Especially home users. Having all of those features sounds awesome. But if they’re not used then you’re paying for features that simply have no value to you.

Second, unless you’re using the software in a business setting, it is unlikely that you use the software frequently enough to really justify the costs. For example, the cost of a Microsoft 365 subscription if $100/year (or $130/yr for a family of up to six people). For that money you get Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, MS Defender, ClipChamp, MS Designer (I’ve no idea what that is) and 1 TB of online storage. Sounds great, right? But how many of those apps do you actually use? And how often? I’ve had folks argue that the 1 TB of storage alone justifies the cost. But, you can buy a 1 TB Storage Box from Hetzner, for example, for less than $50/year. And there are similar options all of which are less expensive than MS365 for similar storage capacity. And, those don’t come with restrictions on how to access that storage. That is, I can access Hetzner from any device without difficulty, while accessing OneDrive from, say a Linux box, can be challenging. Now, I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it does come with challenges.

Now I’ve used Microsoft Office as an example, but the concept extends to many other software provides. Notably, Adobe products.

I fiddle around with photography and videography. I want to be able to clean up and “tweak” my photos and create videos easily. Adobe Photoshop is a great product for that. Similarly, Adobe Premiere is an awesome way of creating videos. That said, do I work on these projects often enough to justify the $70/month fee for the Creative Suite? Nope.

Now, I could buy just the photography plan which is $10/month, but still, do I use the software often enough to justify the cost? Perhaps, but not every month. And, it doesn’t give me access to do video work.

Again, it’s not Just Software#

More and more people are finding that subscriptions (paid and unpaid) in order to use the products they use. Jeff Geerling discussed his experience with a new dishwasher.

When we moved into our new home in 2021, our stove has the option (for the moment) of connecting the the network and accessing it through subscription. Nope, not having it. Similarly, our new washer and dryer both have this option but, thankfully, they haven’t required a subscription in order to wash my clothes! Yet.

The bottom line, though, is that for me, this is all just corporate bullshit that is aimed at gathering more information on us and our usage of their products, milking more money out of our pockets, and giving companies more control over our lives. I’m not one usually given to conspiracy theories of hyperbole, but I can’t help but think that maybe we need to rebel against this kind stuff needs to stop.

I know that I’m being much more cognizant of the “terms and conditions” for the products I buy and if I see that a subscription is required I will look for an alternative. Even if it only requires that I create an online account without cost. I suspect that eventually they’ll come along and decide that I do need to pay for using their product – beyond the already outrageous prices some of these products charge.

One Last Thought#

Yes, I am aware that for many software products, such as MS Office, there are cheaper “perpetual” versions that can be purchased without a subscription. These are my preferences. The challenge here, though, is that to use them, you still need an MS account which allows at least the possibility that what I do in the product may be monitored. And I don’t like that.

For other products, such as Adobe, you can buy the “Express” versions for a one-time cost but these are often severely handicapped, or just plain confusing to use, in ways that push you to the subscription versions.

For now, I’ll use GIMP or Photopea for my photo editing and Davinci Resolve for video editing. These are great products that are relatively easy to use and – most importantly – are free and require no registration. That means that they are also NOT monitoring how I use the software.