[k-mcgrady]

How is this lame? If you only require viewing docs on the iPad you can do that for free. That's fantastic and most people will probably be satisfied with that. A subscription is only to edit and I believe gives you access to Office 365. For software you use daily a subscription shouldn't be a problem.

[mediaman]

It's just the anti-corporate parade of users on HN who aren't used to paying for software. The majority of users here are wholly outside the target market.

There's a huge universe of companies more than willing to pay for these, and it's about time that MS take advantage of re-establishing Office as a cross-device dominant platform for the everyday office worker, rather than losing its edge as an office platform because of silly hardware / software politics internal to their own organization.

[rayiner]

> It's just the anti-corporate parade of users on HN who aren't used to paying for software.

No, they're in denial about the fact that they pay for their software, with their privacy, every minute they're on "free" services.

[yaeger]

>It's just the anti-corporate parade of users on HN who aren't used to paying for software.

Close. We aren't used to keep paying for software with no end in sight. Don't know about you but I subscribe to things I know I will be using regularly. Like daily. Guess were office software falls? Not under the daily usage at home.

Am I supposed to start writing word docs each week and mail them to my family just so I don't feel ripped of cause I am continuously paying for office?

Just wait until the next Windows costs 100 bucks a year. Cause that is where this is headed and apparently people don't seem to have any problem overpaying Microsoft for software.

[silverlake]

> Guess were office software falls? Not under the daily usage at home.

So don't buy it. I don't own Photoshop, but I don't go to Adobe threads and decry that they charge money for their products.

[MadManE]

Subscriptions in general leave a bad taste in my mouth. What happened to just buying the software, and when you felt like upgrading (either because of compatibility issues, or needed functionality) then you can upgrade? Subscriptions definitely are a win for a business by ensuring income streams, but as a consumer I want to pay the company when I feel like buying something and not when they feel like they need money.

[vparikh]

In my opinion, subscriptions are a net win for everyone. For the following reasons:

1. They allow easy access to upgrades, and make it far easier to make sure everyone is on the latest and greatest (you aren't paying for every upgrade, so there is little incentive to hold out.)

2. The consumer pays far less up front -- for example, Adobe Creative Suite costs $600+ and that is money you have to pay upfront. Or I can pay $30 a month to use all of the software in that suite. In my example, I would never buy Photoshop as I can't justify $600+ in price for my uses. $30 a month I can justify. Basically, as a consumer I get access to software/functionality that I never would have had access to before.

3. I only pay for as long as I need it. If after a 6 monhts, I no longer have a need for the software, I cancel my subscription. As simple as that. I have not wasted a lot of money.

4. Which leads to making the software publishers work harder to put in features that help a larger base of users, not just corporate users. And to provide theses features on a more regular basis to keep me paying the monthly fee.

Sure, you can look at it the way you are suggesting but overall I think it is a win/win scenario.

[MadManE]

How is it a win/win if I lose my data when I quit paying the subscription? Having proprietary data formats means that if I want to keep using what I've created, I'm kept hostage by my subscription.

It's a lot better with things like Office, where other programs have been able to extract the data, but it still seems too much like extortion for my liking.

[k-mcgrady]

I think companies have been forced to turn to subscriptions. People aren't willing to pay $150 for office anymore. They probably wouldn't be willing to pay $40 on iPad. Software prices have been forced so low that subscriptions are the only way out.