fyi developers: if your app offers IAPs as "lifetime purchases", i am absolutely never going to pay for your software.

there is this persistent belief now, increasingly entrenched over the past few years, that a "lifetime" IAP subscription is equivalent to owning a piece of software.

no, no it's not. it's renting a piece of software for as long as your support lasts, or the storefront's support lasts.

i'm not saying *anything* new here, but i'm surprised at how commonplace this has become only in the past couple of years.

maybe Don't Be Adobe tattoos could come with every install of Xcode

@vga256 Well said! It's even worse with "lifetime VPN service" or similar service, which obviously carry a running cost, making any lifetime offer at best a very bad deal for the provider or, most likely, a scam.
@sergioaguayogr oof yes. lifetime services are painfully short-lived - there's no way to make a model like that sustainable