Re:Pocket Casts goes open source
by mrobins on Sunday October 23, 2022 @10:24AM
(#33307255)
Respectfully disagree. An obligation to maintain a service in perpetuity for no revenue becomes a huge unfunded liability.
What if the app falls out of favor and new marginal revenue can’t cover fixed costs?
What if the business wants to innovate in a way that dramatically changes its cost structure (maybe introduce a feature that requires a usage based license)? Sure you can gate older users but how long do you have to maintain a separate set of features for them?
Obviously it’s the apps responsibility to make a fair deal with users and stick to terms offered. Sure some companies can make a model that amortizes an upfront payment effectively over decades. In reality though, all that really matters to a company is new cash that pays expenses. If you’re not contributing to that at some point you are no longer the customer.
What if the app falls out of favor and new marginal revenue can’t cover fixed costs?
What if the business wants to innovate in a way that dramatically changes its cost structure (maybe introduce a feature that requires a usage based license)? Sure you can gate older users but how long do you have to maintain a separate set of features for them?
Obviously it’s the apps responsibility to make a fair deal with users and stick to terms offered. Sure some companies can make a model that amortizes an upfront payment effectively over decades. In reality though, all that really matters to a company is new cash that pays expenses. If you’re not contributing to that at some point you are no longer the customer.