> I'm tending towards the opinion that the best business model would be to > "rent" customers the software and renew the key each year. That way they > wouldn't be able to use obsolete software! (God forbid that it happens > but I can see the trend already).
I can tell you this happens already with high end vertical market apps. And I can tell you from first hand experience, it does NOT end up with a happy customer. I no longer do business with any companies that have this purchase model unless I absolutely must use them. I have gone so far as to write my own software (and in some cases release it as free to other users, thus attacking the original vendor's market) just to avoid this purchase model. Why you ask? Simple, I got really sick of tossing tens of thousands of dollars into a program that I had to "lease" on a monthly or yearly basis. A while later, my needs for the software would dry up, and I'd cancel the lease, why pay for something that you aren't using. Then, later still, my needs arise again... and I'm looking at having perfectly good software sitting on a machine, software that has cost me in some cases well into the 6 figures... and I can't use it. I have to start a new lease, and throw more money at it. I just simply got sick of spending tons of money and having nothing to show for it. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net> ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
