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Winter is coming and so is Flexi 19...
- Thread starter TomK
- Start date
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
19 in 2019?
Do I sense subscription only on the horizon? If it is the 19 in 2019, when that's done usually means the start of a yearly release cadence and that means more then likely going subscription only.
This is just speculation on my part.
Do I sense subscription only on the horizon? If it is the 19 in 2019, when that's done usually means the start of a yearly release cadence and that means more then likely going subscription only.
This is just speculation on my part.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Interesting on the "Feature Comparison" pdf, full version and Flexi Design both have "subscription" in parenthesis, so I have to wonder if it's only subscription or not. Or they are making it appear that those are the only plans available and that is what they are trying to push everyone on.
Again, just speculation on what little info I have, but I wouldn't be surprised as most commercial software is going that way and I remember a few yrs back when they had a frequent user on here trying to hock the advantages of subscription over traditional licenses.
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Evan Gillette
New Member
Interesting, any particular reason everyone is against the subscription software? Maybe its because of my age, but I have gotten almost numb to the fact that most software will never be an outright purchase/ownership. I like to "own" my equipment as much as everyone else, but I have a hard time seeing the difference between the two in software. I am sure part of it is my preference to stay up to date with the latest versions and the subscriptions make this automatic. Last time I bought a license (flexi design) iirc the subscription actually was a bit cheaper than a perpetual license when I ran the numbers. Not just looking to argue, looking for feedback and your opinions.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
All closed source software will never be owned by it's user base. Doesn't matter if it's a traditional or subscription license. If one doesn't have the source code to it, one doesn't own it.
For me, I don't like the lack of control over the software. I can't use the software unless I'm forever current with my account. That's a big one that I don't like.
I don't like having to have a production rig perpetually connected to the internet (it's typically not the actual checking the status of the account, but the ancillary, supposed perks that come along with the subscription software). Production rigs shouldn't not be perpetually connected to the internet. And while internet habits can affect the concern of having a connected production computer, that's actually really far far down my list of why I'm concerned about this.
I also have to admit, I don't like everything in life seems to be going subscription. While subscription may be cheap per month (and most people think that it's a month payment and then that's it, they don't keep in mind that it all adds up over time), having to have 10 or 20 subscriptions.
I have one piece of dongled software to get the full version costs $15k, I would prefer that bill to an ongoing subscription one (and I doubt that it's going to be less then $100 per month, too niche/specialized).
I prefer stability to "bleeding edge". Update when need to, when it's actually warranted, not just because there is something new out there. Always take the chance with being first out there with things. Can pay off depending on what one is talking about, but in this case, not so much.
To me, if one is in a production type of environment, stability is far better then just being current to being current. Some never have an issue and that's great, but I don't want to deal with the chance of that happening. Not when I don't need to.
This is actually going to depend. When Adobe first started doing offer subscription along with traditional, I only needed Design Premium. It would take 7 yrs of upgrading every iteration (even the traditional license) to where I was paying less for traditional then subscription. Now, if I wasn't going to be in this trade for that length of that, that's something else.
This subscription crap is one of a few reasons why I've switched platforms (and no, not to Mac, that has it's own issues) and software.
jayhawksigns
New Member
Interested to see if any of the improvements make a noticeable difference when using it, like the 64-bit upgrade. Saw the notice (on Facebook of all places) and already told the powers that be here to be expecting a purchase request sooner the later for some new software.
bannertime
Active Member
I think the most interesting feature update might be the "Sketch" (send a design program for them to make their own artwork?) tool. All the rest seems pretty straight forward.
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Evan Gillette
New Member
Yeah I am interested to see if the "sketch" is any good. Probably just another way to have customers make extra work for us.
Wildwest, I forgot about your disconnected preference as you have mentioned it many times before, that in and of itself is a reason they will probably always offer a perpetual license (even if they don't advertise its availability). I would assume a non-negligible portion of their market is still lacking reliable internet service, we were until a couple years ago. I also agree with most of your opinions about keeping things up to date, however, in my (somewhat limited) experience the most stable and reliable path has been to keep all computers,operating systems, software, and equipment as up to date as possible. This is obviously a balance that requires financial consideration.
Coming from an engineering background where every software has been moving the same direction for many years (to subscription licensing) I half expected it from the signage software.
I really hope to see some added functionality from the nesting features and font match but I wont hold my breath. I have recently been pretty impressed with photoshops font match feature and the way they have integrated typekit/adobe fonts.
I am also SUPER excited about the new rulers...
Wildwest, I forgot about your disconnected preference as you have mentioned it many times before, that in and of itself is a reason they will probably always offer a perpetual license (even if they don't advertise its availability). I would assume a non-negligible portion of their market is still lacking reliable internet service, we were until a couple years ago. I also agree with most of your opinions about keeping things up to date, however, in my (somewhat limited) experience the most stable and reliable path has been to keep all computers,operating systems, software, and equipment as up to date as possible. This is obviously a balance that requires financial consideration.
Coming from an engineering background where every software has been moving the same direction for many years (to subscription licensing) I half expected it from the signage software.
I really hope to see some added functionality from the nesting features and font match but I wont hold my breath. I have recently been pretty impressed with photoshops font match feature and the way they have integrated typekit/adobe fonts.
I am also SUPER excited about the new rulers...
bannertime
Active Member
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
This actually doesn't enter into my equation, but since you brought it up. Issues on your end or their end could present problems, even in areas of otherwise stable internet.
Updates, in of themselves are unstable. It is introducing unknown variables into a system. My experience with Win 10 (which is really just my dad's computers and he doesn't get the cheap components) has never been good with each and every major release. In fact, MS scrapped Oct.'s update due to they never got it right and now you have April's update, which has it's own issues. Win 10 is actually what made me switch to a totally different ecosystem (and while I don't run it on a production computer, but a personal desktop, Manjaro (Arch based distro) has been far more stable then Windows 10 has ever been and it's "bleeding edge" just like Win 10 is). And while not everyone can go that way, it's been far more stable then Windows has ever been and I've been a Windows user since I was in the single digits (back in the DOS days) and it's honestly put the fun back into using a desktop.
Windows has it's issues that run deep (especially considering it's legacy bloat) that affect both security (the fact that zero day's always keep coming up and they have been vulnerabilities since the 9x days) and stability of the system (at least in my non-coder's, but geeky computer user's estimation).
The irony is, if a system isn't connected to the outside world, it doesn't need to be totally up to date. Just stable.
Add into the fact that each major Win 10 update goes EOL 18 months from when it was released (not when you get it, but when it's released) and since those are major feature updates, they can break programs or in order to take advantage of them, you have to keep up with the hardware (computer) and software. That can also add into the need to keep up to date with those as well.
This all adds to the instability of everything, by the time a major Win 10 update gets stable for everyone (if it ever does (RE: Oct. '18 update never was fixed)), it's practically EOL.
Forced updates (at least with regard to the major feature updates) should not be done unless they can insure ultimate stability, which they certainly don't have that track record. I actually would have had sympathy for them (certainly more then I would with Apple and Apple doesn't always escape this (RE: initial release of High Sierra)), but not since they forced it.
I have no doubt that is the way that most closed source commercial software is going (main reason why I've gone totally open source with my entire workflow), and those that "have to" stick with those programs, I have sympathy for y'all, because when they go to raise those prices (and there is no ability to hold off until later), cost of doing business is going to only going to go higher.