upvote

points

by bellowsgulch1 hours ago |
comments
upvoteby conductr12 minutes ago|
next
[-]
BBEdit is a small private company, no VCs. They probably make a ton of cash (by normal standards) for the owners at this point and doing right by their customers and not rocking the boat through profit maximization strategies is a long term play that VCs could not put up with.
reply
upvoteby wlesieutre56 minutes ago|
prev|
next
[-]
Unfortunately Apple doesn’t allow paid updates short of releasing a whole separate app, and you can’t do upgrade discounts for current owners except via weird bundle discounts by sticking the new and old versions together as a package. So Apple is to blame for all the subscriptions.
reply
upvoteby reaperducer41 minutes ago|
parent|
[-]
Unfortunately Apple doesn’t allow paid updates short of releasing a whole separate app, and you can’t do upgrade discounts for current owners except via weird bundle discounts by sticking the new and old versions together as a package. So Apple is to blame for all the subscriptions.

We're talking about a macOS program, where companies don't have to bother with Apple's rules to sell their software, so your comment is off-topic.

Panic is good example of this kind of pricing.

Nova is $99 (last I checked), and gets updates for a year. After that, it's $75 for another year of updates.

If you don't want to update, you don't have to. You can even update every second or third year or whatever you want and catch up with all the missing features and updates.

Let's not just throw up our hands and say, "Oh, well. Apple makes me do this, so there's nothing I can do." Innovate.

reply
upvoteby wlesieutre14 minutes ago|
parent|
[-]
I don’t think subscriptions for every single thing would have taken off the way it did if it hadn’t been for Apple forcing it on mobile where normal people use the most software. I do support software that isn’t subscription as much as I can. Alibre 3D is another good one, though not on Mac yet.
reply
upvoteby kstrauser1 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
No other professional field I know of lets workers invent and alter their own tools, collaboratively, for free, and share them for free with all their colleagues.

If surgeons could wiggle their fingers and make a better scalpel, at no cost, and give a copy to all their friends, also at no cost, I bet they'd have some pretty spiffy scalpels going around soon and many docs would stop paying for them.

reply
upvoteby bellowsgulch20 minutes ago|
parent|
next
[-]
Your comment is hilarious, because of the people most suited to manufacture a better scalpel, it's people in healthcare because of their income being in the 1% of individual compensation distribution.

Amazingly, software does not have zero cost. You pay for hardware, software licensing, hosting, leases, fees, and administrative costs.

Where is this mythical no cost software you're talking about? Is it in the room with us right now?

Where does your income come from again? Is it this same zero cost software we're talking about right now? The same zero cost software that an employer pays you a salary and benefits for, or...?

reply
upvoteby doublerabbit1 hours ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
> No other professional field I know of lets workers invent and alter their own tools, collaboratively, for free, and share them for free with all their colleagues.

Blacksmithing, metal working?

reply
upvoteby idle_zealot55 minutes ago|
parent|
next
[-]
Did I miss blacksmiths gaining the ability to infinitely duplicate and teleport their finished pieces into people's hands? Can one learn this power?
reply
upvoteby exe3450 minutes ago|
parent|
[-]
Teleport? You mean over fiber optics that cost millions to install and maintain?
reply
upvoteby idle_zealot33 minutes ago|
parent|
[-]
Hey, if it only cost millions to install and maintain a leyline network with magic circles capable of transmitting matter for pennies then I would count that as teleportation, yeah.
reply
upvoteby kstrauser55 minutes ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
To a point, although you can't make your own kiln for free. The tools in those trades consume a significant amount of resources, where computing is basically free once you pay for the hardware. Something like GCC is the software equivalent of a steel mill. Even if you could design one and give out the designs for free, you'd still have to pay for the raw materials to construct one.
reply
upvoteby kennywinker1 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
Implying that one of the oldest still actively developed commercial text editors is not doing sustainable business practices kinda misses the mark. They’ve been at this since 1992, 34 years ago. I think they know their business.
reply
upvoteby bellowsgulch59 minutes ago|
parent|
[-]
Yeah, I think I know their business, too. Remember 12 years ago when BBEdit left the Mac App Store only later to come back with subscriptions? Boo.

[1]: https://x.com/smorr/status/521033038713880576

[2]: https://www.barebones.com/company/press/bbedit_back_to_mas_p...

reply
upvoteby kstrauser53 minutes ago|
parent|
[-]
Eh. I think that was a fine thing to offer for people who wanted it. You can still buy a perpetual license for the full version from their website.
reply
upvoteby browningstreet1 hours ago|
prev|
[-]
Customer acquisition and retention is so very hard and expensive. It’s a tough equation.
reply