Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by virgilp 1619 days ago
> No one had ever done it

WAT? Adobe launched "Creative Cloud" (which at the time was basically desktop-software-as-a-service) on July 17, 2013; if I recall correctly they had been trialing that for about 1year in Australia before deciding it's a good idea and doing the global launch. Not sure if Adobe was first, but they definitely preceded you by half a decade!
1 comments
ViViDboarder 1619 days ago
But Postmates, Uber, Lyft, etc are not really the same type of business. SaaS had been mainstream but memberships to a p2p app wasn’t really.
link
virgilp 1619 days ago
SaaS was mainstream but e.g. Creative Cloud was not really SaaS - it was "we give you desktop products and you pay an yearly fee instead of the one-time cost". Adobe tried very hard to add Saas features but especially initially, the appeal was purely in the payment model (and I know a lot of individuals didn't like it! But a lot of companies did).

Arguably, Netflix started this trend even earlier - with their exclusively-subscription model for renting DVDs (something that one used to at least be able to pay-per-rental).

link
pooper 1619 days ago
It isn't obvious at all why a membership would work for postmates or Uber eats but not for let's say movie pass or hypothetically Airbnb.

Could someone share their thoughts on this? When does an all you can eat type membership (or any other type) work?

link
hahajk 1619 days ago
I looked up Uber Eats Pass; it’s not an all you can eat subscription. It waives delivery fees and gives a percentage discount to orders. It’s more like a loyalty program you pay for, like Prime.
link
pooper 1615 days ago
Sorry, all you can eat was a bad choice of words. I meant in terms if the fees that Uber Eats collects.

I'd say prime is similar because you get free shipping but clearly Amazon.com makes money on each sale so the more they sell the more they earn.

On the other hand, movie pass is a fixed price. You pay the same regardless of whether you watch one movie or a hundred. What makes Netflix work with all you can eat but not movie pass? Is there a way to know ahead of time what works with all you can eat?

link