I’m with you, brother. Subscription-based models may work for hard-copy magazines, where I get to keep every issue I’ve received for as long as I want to, and to read, re-read and refer to them any time that I want to, even if I choose to cancel the subscription, after which I will simply not receive any new issues.
The subscription-based model for software is a different beast altogether. It would feel like extortion if I were to continue paying month-after-month to use a particular software package, knowing that when the day comes that I choose to end the subscription, I am left with nothing. The value of all that money that I would have invested over months, years or even decades would simply vanish into thin air, as I’d be left with a software package and various updates that would cease to function when I end the subscription. That is very uncool on every conceivable level.
Cheers,
Glider