Rip-Off Strategies by Software Companies

Once upon a time you could buy software for a price, then it was yours to keep, forever. Nothing else to pay....ever. You could pay an additional payment to get upgrades for a yearly price. These so-called upgrades are normally just improvements on the software to correct bugs that the makers failed to appreciate in the first place. Most of the bugs are reported to the software developers by the actual users of the software. Then, of course the same users are expected to pay extra for the new versions!  Yes, we all know that technology improves with time, and software developers are trying to incorporate new additions to be fully compliant with the latest technology. Then there are the hackers who try virtually anything to bring the software package to its knees.  The software company then try to make you pay an additional fee, normally yearly, for all these developments, or so-called improvements. That income, of course, can be fed to the people who are actually making the ‘improvements’. Sheer greed. Nothing really to do with customers…just a way to maximise income and profit. 

The latest trend is even more disturbing. Instead of paying a one-off payment for the software, users are now expected to pay monthly or yearly for the great privilege of using the software. You can normally identify this rip-off by their 'pricing structure' on the home page. A never-ending supply of money for the developers/company. In short, greed wins. Of course, they can argue that you are always up to date with the latest version……but at what price? Why should users pay these developers money to correct bugs /faults with the software that should not have existed in the first place.