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Comment by hk__2 | Hacker News Reader

> How many products need constant feature updates? Aside from security/compatibility there are plenty of products that already meet everything required of them (to near everyone). How many new features does a file manager need? An PDF reader?

Do you have any example of file managers or PDF readers with a subscription-based model?

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Adobe Acrobat Pro, Foxit Phantom PDF. I'll concede I can't think of a file manager though.

But those are PDF editors, not PDF readers.

True. How many new features do they need? What about word processors? Photo editors? Email clients? There are new features that could be useful, but for many users their needs are already fulfilled. Why should they have to continue paying for Photoshop as a service if they're happy with the current version? I apologise for my poor examples.

> Why should they have to continue paying for Photoshop as a service if they're happy with the current version?

Ultimately - because the person who owns the rights for the software wants to keep charging them and since it's their software they decide what is charged for it, end of story.

If it's not a good deal for you, go somewhere else. There's no point arguing about prices beyond that. There's no 'should' in prices - only what people want to charge and what people want to pay.

Right, they pay more because the company wills it and people (I think) are more receptive to subscribitions. This is what the author of the article is complaining about and the reason consumer advocacy groups exist.

>can't think of a file manager though

http://dopus.com/ not exactly subscription, but you buy a major version, and each new major version is a new purchase.

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