Apple please, I am consumed with subscription fatigue

[Daniel E.]

Apple please, I am consumed with subscription fatigue - CNET
March 27, 2019

Apple's betting everything now on subscriptions. Or not everything, certainly, but Apple would like us to pay up. Just a little bit more. Here, there. Apple News Plus is $10 a month. We don't know about Apple Arcade for gaming, or Apple TV Plus for shows. Then there's iCloud. Apple Music. The cost of the devices themselves. Phone service.

Suddenly, or more than ever, we're subscribing to everything. We rent the world we live in. Micropayments everywhere.

Apple doesn't seem to acknowledge this subscription overload. And in the middle of it all, dangled like a magic carrot on a string: a credit card, of all things, promising better budgeting.

We're heading toward a future where we rent everything, and it's unsustainable.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Yeah I have to admit I'm no fan of this trend, whether it's Apple or Microsoft or anyone else.

I'd rather buy a copy of Office, own it, and keep backups on DVDs in case I need to re-install it.

They try to sell subscriptions as a way to be always up to date with versions and security fixes.

Frankly, I think that's just bafflegab. I think it's simply a way to get people to keep on paying month after month after month. No thanks.

I already get updates from Windows Update at least once a month for all my MS products. Why do I need a subscription to do that?