In the world of software, upgrades are a way of life. Vendors are constantly updating/upgrading versions to both keep ahead of the competition and keep their users hungering for more (which could be read as keeping their users spending money to get the latest version). Of course, it’s not just software where this occurs – have you upgraded to the new i something phone or Samsung smartphone? Why people stand hours (days) in line to be the “first” on their block to own the newest phone is beyond me. Especially considering the cost of the phone. Is it really going to do anything for you that will have positive effects that the older phone couldn’t do? Really?
The same can be said for software. New versions typically come out on a 12 month cycle (though I recall one company doing a full version upgrade just a few months after they realized the new version was more trouble to fix with updates and patches than to just overhaul it and release a new version). Most of the “new” features are probably things that could have been addressed in version updates – “hey, while we were fixing an issue we added a couple cool new features, hope you like them.” No way that would happen when they can put those cool ideas into a full version upgrade and charge the users a chunk of change to get the new feature.
For some software packages, the cost of upgrading can be ridiculous. Add in the fact that it may be necessary (say for a business to stay current with the competition) to do this on a yearly basis and you begin to wonder is it really necessary. The unfortunate issue is that it can be very necessary. For me, being the printing and graphic design business, I need to be current, if for no other reason than to make it easy for all the graphic designers sending us files to know we can take the most current version. It has happened (in the past) that designers had to take a project and make it backward compatible so we could open the file (they were on version 5 and we were still on version 3, for example). One of the big graphic software developers even made it so difficult that you can only save the file in format that can be opened by one version older than the current version (so if you have version 5, you can save it to open in version 4 – the company that has version 3 or older is, well SOL).
What this means to those in the graphics industry is sort of planned obsolescence. If we want to stay current, be prepared to shell out big bucks year after year so you can have the latest and greatest. Which leads to what is slowly becoming a trend with many software developers. Instead of shelling out big bucks yearly for upgrades, they offer a “maintenance” renewal that keeps the buyer up to date with the current versions as they come out. I recently joined Adobe’s Creative Cloud for a service along these lines. For a monthly fee I am able to download and use all of the Adobe applications (take a look at their Master Collection to see what you get) on multiple computers (actually, I believe you are able to use the software on 2 computers, though the cool thing is you could install it on a PC and a MAC) and get updates as they become available. This includes version upgrades that occur during the contract (which is 12 months). The only catch is if you opt of the contract (which costs some bucks), the software will be deactivated at the time you end the contract. They even offer online storage and hosting of 5 websites for one relatively low fee. After crunching the numbers, this option makes a lot more sense than upgrading the software license, even taking into account that the regular price is $20 more a month that it currently costs me (as a licensed user, I received a monthly discount on this first 12 month contract).
I was a bit skeptical about using this service, but looking at it after a few months, I think it’s a great model and expect to see more of the software developers heading down a similar path. In fact, just today updates to Illustrator and Photoshop actually included those “cool new features” I complained about earlier! New features without a complete version upgrade – outstanding. I’m beginning to believe this model is going to workout beautifully.