The fist time I installed Photoshop on my computer was around 1996 or 1997. I was very amazed by it capabilities. The fact that you could easily edit an image on screen of your computer was great. That version of Adobe was sitting on my computer and was used for casual photo editing or even some creative funs.
The next version that I installed was version 6, released in 2000. You wouldn't need to be an expert to see the differences that two version had. It was a lot better, and more exciting.
Same for AutoCad. My father uses AutoCAD a lot. I remember the first version that he installed was AutoCAD 13, installed on MS-DOS with very basic GUI. At the time, although they have started to using it in some limited cases, but the software was still far from a complete solution. They could not move completely from pen and paper to the computer. I remember people were counting days for the new version, so they can get more features and more stable software. They wouldn't hesitate to purchase the software the first day it was released. Even if they had to buy better operating system and upgrade their hardware. Main reason was, new version had features that could significantly increase their productivity and as result make more money for the business.
However, as we move forward I see less and less enthusiasm among professionals (i.e. photographers, architect) to upgrade their software, the most important tool for their craft. Seems today's software are good enough and they no longer can justify an expensive annual purchase of new AutoCAD or Photoshop license just because it has some new fancy feature that probably 99% of the time they don't use. There are many other examples, MS Office is also victim of its success. Its current features are more than enough for most people who just want to write a letter, an essay or make simple presentation. As result, when a new version of office comes although it might have something that makes power users happy, but doesn't look necessary for normal users and they cannot justify a new purchase.
This doesn't work for software companies. They still have engineers working on new advance features, fix bugs and release security patches. They need to spend money on R&D and new products, and still have to pay their shareholders.
This is where the subscription model comes into play. It guaranties that someone pays for the ongoing work of bug fixes and security patches while adding new features constantly. High speed Internet and reasonable availability makes it easy for this business model. Companies can no longer convince customer to pay for new software every year.
Companied will try to add more value to the subscription like cloud storage and very frequent update. This still cam make some customers unhappy because previously people could see purchase of a software like Photoshop as an investment similar to purchasing of a new camera. They could be confident that they don't need to pay in the next 2-3 more years or until whenever they feel there is a need for an upgrade. However, In this new model they are just a tenant and they have to pay rent each month or they get eviction notice.
No comments:
Post a Comment