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Comment by Pinus | Hacker News Reader

In the early days of Vuescan, you got unlimited updates for something like $40 and, as far as I can tell, those agreements are still being honoured. I suppose Hamrick could have said "Sorry, your license is for Vuescan, but now it’s vu-scan, that’s different", but he hasn’t.

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Anyone know the current update price? The website says you get a year of updates included but no mention of what each additional year now costs.

> All licenses come with one year of free updates. You can continue to use any version that is released within your free update period forever.

I purchased a lifetime license 16 years ago for US $90. Indeed, the license I have is as valid as ever.

Hamrick is an upstanding guy who deserves a lot of respect for the way he’s run his business for over 20 years now. He seems like a one man shop that just never sells out and goes on indefinitely. I guess the software will die when he does.

Startups are all the rage on HN but here is a great example of a lifestyle business that is long-lived and well-respected by many.

> Hamrick is an upstanding guy who deserves a lot of respect for the way he’s run his business for over 20 years now. He seems like a one man shop that just never sells out and goes on indefinitely. I guess the software will die when he does.

I'm a vuescan license holder since 2004. 18 years! I could have sworn I was using it 2 years earlier, though.

Good news: He has a "farmers continuity plan" - He gave birth to his successor. He now runs it with his son, who he raised as a developer :-)

https://www.hamrick.com/about-vuescan.html#about

Well said. Also in the Mac world—I can't speak to other platforms—I'd say your description of Hamrick the person and business also applies to Peter Lewis, the person behind Keyboard Maestro.

My license from 1999 is still valid. I originally purchased it for doing slide scanning on an LS-2000 and once I stopped shooting film I did not use vuescan until a few years ago when I needed to do a bunch of flatbed scans. I was pleased (and rather surprised) that it still worked. I then purchased a standard edition license as a thank you for what to my mind was a remarkably principled commitment to his promise of a lifetime license.

Great story. It is also worth mentioning that Ed Hamrick himself answers all support emails. They are only a sentence or two, but it’s just a remarkable thing.

Wow, I just realized this was the same VueScan. Back in the day, it opened up almost every "Made for Windows" scanner for the Mac. I'm impressed it's still going!

Yep, that's something to appreciate. So far I'm happy with my printers but I'm not sure if I'm going to be happy with my next printer really.

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