Re:Subscription Hell
by jakobegger on Monday May 07, 2018 @03:11PM
(#17015545)
Until your standalone software answers customer support requests automatically, you‘re still going to have variable costs that grow with your user base.
It's trivial to only supply customer support for a limited time after sale of the software, or to offer a separate support contract for customers who require support.
Re:Subscription Hell
by jakobegger on Tuesday May 08, 2018 @03:05AM
(#17019366)
“Hi, I lost my license key!”
“Thanks for contacting us! Our standard license includes support for 12 months after purchase. I’ve attached an offer for our extended support contract. I’m looking forward to your response!”
There's also a flaw in this logic: It assumes that all apps require some kind of server provided by the developer in order to run.
Once upon a time, standalone software was standalone and could run in perpetuity without requiring anything more of the original developer. It's still entirely possible to write software like this, there's just a trend away from it due to the prevalence of always-on internet connections and the ease of keeping some of your application server-side as a form of copy protection.