Pete Prodoehl 🍕Mar 3
Hey kids, in the olden days you bought (instead of “rented”) software and it came in a box with a disc and it was yours to use forever!
Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Mar 3

Well, the “forever” part was tricky because it might break due to OS upgrades or computer architecture/chip changes.

But making a one-time purchase and using software 5 or 10 years was not unheard of.

I think I paid $500 for Photoshop and it came out to under $9 per month if I do the math right… that’s for 10 years of use.

If it’s still $20 per month for a subscription and you do 10 years that’s $2,400.

Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕
Just like how my mortgage is less than tbe rent my (adult) children pay, renting is about never owning and always paying more.
Mar 3 at 1:40pmMona for iPhone
Show threadadingbatponder  đź‘ľMar 3

@rasterweb The disaster is one can be locked out of software you paid for if the internet is down or vendor's servers are down because you cannot authenticate that you have paid for the software. They do not even provide alternative authentication like a key. The software keeps needing re-authentication and it is not a one-off. It is like renting a house and not being able to open the door unless the telephone line is working and the landlord's answering machine is not full.

A total disaster.

Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Mar 3
@adingbatponder Yup! It didn’t use to be that way though. I do remember offline options to verify a license for some software.
Show threadMichael 🤨Mar 4
@rasterweb @adingbatponder I remember calling Microsoft on the phone to authenticate my copy of Windows 7 I think. Feels like a fever dream now
Show threadWesDymMar 3

@adingbatponder That is a scandal, for sure. There's no good reason that local authentication should not be available.

As I said elsewhere, I blame inadequate regulation. Vendors can be made to do this, if enough people push for it.

Show threadAlan BucknamMar 3
@rasterweb I still have my CS3-era Adobe software license serial numbers stored away in a note. Probably can’t run those on today’s hardware though. Sigh.
Show threadWesDymMar 3

@rasterweb The mortgage/rent comparison is popular, but I think probably faulty, because these are also very different cost/benefit structures. A tenant may pay more per m^2, but they're also not responsible for many things that a homeowner would be. And in nearly all cases, a flat with the same floorspace and amenitites as most private homes would demand much higher rent.

In my mind, the biggest difference is that renters cannot build equity.

/2

Show threadWesDymMar 3

@rasterweb 2/ I would liken software to being more like a personal vehicle, which you can buy, rent, or lease. Probably lease. A new car depreciates over time, no matter how well cared for. A leased car has aspects of both ownership or rental, but is replaced periodically.

But no one can build equity in software, no matter how you access it or for how long. There's no appreciation, no resale value, for anyone.

Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Mar 3
@wesdym How do you classify my model then, where I bought a 12 year old used car for cheap, paid it off in one year, and now own it forever. What is the software equivalent?
Show threadWesDymMar 3
@rasterweb You will not own it forever, and this is only an analogy, not an exact analogue, and I know that you're smart enough to know that.
Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Mar 3

@wesdym If you want to be pedantic (which I am fine with):

I can own it for as long as like and/or as long as I am able.

Is that better?

So what is the software equivalency of this?

In the old days maybe it would have been getting a used computer with software already installed from the previous owner that you could still use?

Show threadWesDymMar 3

@rasterweb Ironic that you should accuse me of pedantry.

Take a powder. And try not to be this tiresome and immature in the future, okay?

Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Mar 3

@wesdym Apologies, I meant no insult. I am pedantic and hold no ill will towards others who are.

My mind is a little fuzzy from medication today so if I read things poorly please know I did not mean to do so.

Show threadJohn WilsonMar 4

@rasterweb mortgages are rent control for the middle class

(Or at least, that’s what they *were*)