Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin1524
Am I the only one still perplexed by the new perpetual licensing thing? Here's why...
1.) Avid puts out a major new release approx. every 2 years (e.g. version 9, version 10, version 11 and now 12).
2.) In each new major release there are usually a slew of new features.
3.) In between major releases, there are lots of minor releases (e.g. 11.x to 11.1) and in every case, bug fixes with each minor release.
4.) Bug fixes are free right?
My point is, it's impossible to separate out bug fixes from new features in a software release and, in every release, there have always, always been some bug fixes.
To me what this translates into is Avid essentially charging the same price (albeit 3-6 times higher than the competition). Just buy the upgrade for a year, let it lapse for a year and buy the next major release when it comes out (For HD, 1 yr subscription $599, 1 year lapse 0, new release, new subscription full price $1,199). Err well, who knows what they'll be charging in 2 years. OMG this IS confusing. Ok forget it. How about we go back to just paying 1 price for new major releases when they come out? Of the things I subscribe to, my DAW software shouldn't be one of them. Who agrees?
|
You're letting the cart get out ahead of you...
My point is, it's impossible to separate out bug fixes from new features in a software release and, in every release, there have always, always been some bug fixes.
The relevant issue is what is called
transaction overhead.
Suppose you go to the grocery store today and buy one can of beans.
Then tomorrow, you go to the store and buy 10 cans of beans.
There are a few little things that happen before the first item moves down the conveyor belt...the checker greets you, in the US they scan your loyalty card...little stuff like that.
Then after the last item has been rung up and bagged, they have to collect money or have you scan your debit/credit card, things like that.
And basically, no matter how many cans of beans you buy, they have to do those things before and after the process is complete. And there are costs associated with those things...even though it may be a tiny fraction of a US cent, you have labor costs, costs for lights/heating/cooling, costs for maintaining the POS registers, things like that.
So it is when you are working against a "version-oriented" release model. There is a transaction overhead cost associated with a software release...obviously you want to cram as many things into a "release" as possible, and you want to have the fewest possible releases in a given time period.
But, every bug fix, every major new feature...each of them is typically one or more
projects. Typically, what is to be included in a release is often not decided until a week (or sometimes less) before the release date.
That's an advantage of moving to "versionless" software...often you can significantly reduce transaction overhead
overall, as it is not necessary to manage a single large product...release management can often be done by folks a lot farther down the food chain. Also, you don't have to wait until some arbitrary "release date" before getting it out the door...you can "ship it out" as soon as it's ready.