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by ModernMech 1859 days ago
You said “To be clear, I'm talking applications which require subscriptions for basic functionality”

That’s exactly apps likes Spotify. They restrict downloading, skipping, and bitrate unless you pay for premium, which I would say is basic functionality. You get access to the music whether you pay or not. I’m not paying for the music, I’m paying to skip ads and download to play offline.
1 comments
cgriswald 1858 days ago
> You said “To be clear, I'm talking applications which require subscriptions for basic functionality”

You're taking that statement out of the context of the post in which I said it. I began my post with "Subscriptions to services are fine." Everything in the post after that, including that quote, is specifically and explicitly not talking about services like Spotify.

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ModernMech 1858 days ago
You're not understanding my point. I'm saying that Spotify is actually closer to the model you decry than to a subscription service of which you approve. An example of a subscription service would be Netflix. When I pay for Netflix, I get to watch Netflix. When I stop paying for Netflix, I don't get to watch Netflix anymore.

Spotify is different. With Spotify, when I stop paying for Spotify I still get to listen to the music. But I lose the basic functionality of the app, like the ability to save songs to disk, or to skip tracks. To me, this seems like the exact model you're saying is bad. They have removed basic functionality in order to push a subscription.

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cgriswald 1858 days ago
No, I didn't misunderstand your point. I understand the distinction you're making between Spotify and Netflix in terms of how subscriptions are motivated. My post is about the distinction based on recurring versus fixed costs.

My footnote is not part of my argument. It's only meant as a clarification for which types of applications (not services) I'm discussing. You also mistake what I mean by 'basic functionality'. I maybe should have said required functionality. Spotify is perfectly usable without download, skip, or bitrate. Instead, I'm talking about applications like an RSS reader (again, an application only, not an online service) that will only show you sample feeds if you're not subscribed.

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