> Am I the only person who thinks Google specifically and the mobile app market in general combined with previously subsidized by carriers phones have completely destroyed the consumers perception of the value of software?
Not entirely fair to Google here.
No one would have purchased the original iPhone were it not heavily subsidized by AT&T. No one. One could argue that the same forces apply today regarding most phone purchasers.
> and god knows what else when if much rather just pay like $49 for a properly made application with a permanent license.
Except the numbers of downloads show that this approach isn't gaining traction. In fact, look at how many applications switched to a subscription model the moment Apple permitted it?
On the side of development, subscriptions make sense. Software development isn't a one-off fee to make software these days, as 99.995% of the people here realize.
Isn't subscription the only sustainable model?