Nowdays I'm creating a lot of software with the help of AI, before that, you had to write everything yourself.
As mentioned in earlier Posts, the Speed you can develop Software with AI is just immense. For certain pieces of Software you need a team and months of work before, now it becomes the Job for a single Senior Software Engineer.
Lets compare Software market to a Physical Hardware Store.
The Construction Shovel
Today we wanna dig a hole and for this we need obviously a shovel, so we go to a blacksmith and let him make a shovel for us.
Luckily today, we do not go to a blacksmith and we not have to wait for the shovel, we go to the Hardware store and buy a shovel for $50.- to dig that hole.
In the Future we wanna dig more holes, so we need that Shovel also for future holes. After a year of hole digging, the shovel is strained and the handle gets cracks and breaks. Now 1 year later you go back to the blacksmith or in our modern world we go to the hardware store and buy a new Shovel, so you can keep digging those holes.
This is the "easiest" point of view of the lifecycle. You Buy, You Use, eventually it breaks and you have to buy a new one.
Software
In the Software Market, we expect a Software to basicially run forever, without errors and exceptions. While the Shovel can break, you accept it, when the Software breaks, you are outragous.
I have no clue why this is so deeply anchored in us.
Is it because Software is nothing you can "grab" since it is digital?
Let's say you are a boomer like myself and you bought Office 2000, the last Version of office without activation.
I think it still runs on Windows 10/11, even if it might work poorly and for security reasons you shouldn't run it.
But theoretically you can run it and it is a piece of software +25 years old still capable of doing its job -> Creating Documents.
So 26 years later noone is complainig "Hey i bought that piece of software back then, i want to use it till today, i paid for it". No the Software reached the end of its lifetime, which means it might not broken yet but it will break sooner or later and the development is discontinued, the Company made an Software End User Agreement and you willingly accepted that.
This was the year 2000, today we have shifted, instead of buying, we rent software, indefinetly.
While they tell us, the subscription is for the continous development of the Software and to keep the unecessary infrastructure behind running that noone asked for, they charge money every month.
You start Digging the Holes
It is January you start your Journey with an API Client and you start paying ~$10.- per month, after 12 months you Paid a whooping ~$120.- for the Software, and the only changes were some bug and hotfixes. Something the Company should have provided anyway, if "One-Time / Licensed / Subscription" pay model.
You Keep digging that Hole and the costs increase every month, even there is no new features to the software. By the Way the Shovel also has no new features, it works as intendent for its job it is designed.
And even if there are new Features to the Software, do you really Need that new Feature? is it really necessary for your workflow?
How about the Shovel? You buy that Shovel for ~$50.- do you expect now upgrades to that Shovel, a new Feature? I'm pretty sure you don't!
And Maybe, Maybe not, more often it's not, im sure, you dont even need that new Feature/Functionality. But you still keep digging your holes and you keep paying monthly for it.
Payed for something you dont wanted and you dont Need
So there is this new Update now, it gives your API Client a unique Feature. But you don't need that feature, so you payed ~$120 for development on a Feature and functionality of the software, you don't need and maybe never make use of.
If the company would have decided a different approach:
- Selling the API Client for ~$29.-
- The bring now a new Feature / Addon that could be sold for lets go crazy another ~$29.-
you would be now at ~$58.- and you could decide, ah I don't need that Feature, so I stick with my regular API Client which I own already for a price of ~$29.-
But you are so attached to that API Client and their forced Cloud that you keep paying the Subscription and in 3 years you paid ~$360.- and you keep paying!
This is the greed of those Companies they keep you locked in their infrastructure and you are willingly accept this and rent your software now forever.
Good Luck
Alternatives
There is usually one or more alternatives out there that will solve the same problems without Subscriptions, being open source, licensed or free versions.
Now at OlympStack we're developing an API Client that comes with a One-Time Payment License and a "product lifetime license".
My idea is, I provide a piece of Software like OlympAPI which is available for ~€29.- and for Major Features we plan to make a new Major Version which can be upgraded from the previous Major Version, but is not necessary.
Our Approach
Basic API Client goes from version 1.0.x to version 1.9.0 ~€29.-
Version 2.0.0 Drops now with a awesome new Feature its now version 2.0.0, the API Client cost now ~€49 or an Upgrade from Version 1 ~€20.- and instead of forcing everyone to the new version, the upgrade to 2.0 is optional.
- You don't need the features of Version 2? Then stay with Version 1.x.x you bought for ~€29.-
- You need that feature? Upgrade and only pay ~€20.-
- You are a new Customer? You can decide between Version 1 and 2 now which fits better for you.
What do you see in this?
Let me know what you think about that, this are my thoughts, im not an editor or writer, so have mercy.
What is it that you keep paying for unnecessary Subscriptions? Are you attached? Are you lazy to change? It doesn't bother you? You are locked deeply inside their Cloud?
Did you also think about the data you give to all those Companies when using their Cloud / Infrastructure? Which raises real questions about Ownership of the data, privacy questions and much more.
OlympStack
Check out our Website for more Details on the approach of going back to old school licensing and a model were the user owns not only the software and his license, no also owns and keeps his data safe and private!
Website: https://olympstack.com
OlympAPI: https://olympstack.com/olympapi
have a great day on your journey!