Lifetime subscription option?

Any chance that Channels will offer a lifetime subscription? Or even a multi-year option/discount?

I'd rather make a one-time payment, then not have to budget for it for > 12 months.

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This would be nice. Most developers seem to prefer the recurring revenue model, but I would not mind a large upfront payment.

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I agree with memorian - this is not the way things are going these days, everything is moving to subscription based. Also, could be a problem if streaming completely changes in the next few years and things aren't scheduled and TVE becomes obsolete, so the monthly/yearly subscription safeguards from having to give money back if something major changes.

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Doesn't seem to be an issue for Channels main competitors. Like Plex and Emby.
Both of them offer Lifetime plans for $119.
(TiVo offers Lifetime plans for most of their equipment too, its per device and is $599 so says a web search)

But, you can find this discussion argued about the semantic of it like mad in other threads here, along with the very opinionated people that try to play business economic experts, and tell you why your wrong to want a lifetime plan.

Sure, maybe Plex is a much bigger, corporate enterprise company with teams of employees, and solid financial resources.
Emby, however, is not. Emby is run pretty much by one main dev, and a couple minor ones that contribute on occasion. There is no huge corporate entity or big corporate funding to ensure future financial resources. (Very much how it appears how Channels DVR appears to be structured as a company.)

So, the main "argument" that some state as reason to not have Lifetime plan, that it is not a sound financial decision...is a weak and ultimately, not always applicable/comparable when you look at industry competitors and current market as a whole.

It is true, though, that a Lifetime plan for most anything, is not offered nearly as much as it used to for many prodcuts/services.

That being said, I got Emby Premier Lifetime Licence shortly after they first offered it and it was only $80 at the time. They did raise the cost of it several months later though.

I do prefer a one time payment, and never have to worry about it again.
Maybe i have a leftover small chunk of money, I want to use towards one thing and not have to worry about it again for long while. only way to do that with these monthly subscription services, is open a separate and dedicated no fee checking account(or pre-paid debit card), dump in the money, and set the service auto pay to that card. Works fine as long as the account has money in it. ...but, yea, kinda pointless really.

Life time passes don't make sense for software that's continually being updated.

A better option would be to let you pay multiple years in advance.

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to you maybe,,,,but like already mentioned, Plex and Emby do it....and, Emby at least, has constant updates. (cant speak of Plex, i dont use Plex)

Many other software i have paid for, in the past, also are lifetime products with updates.

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Good for them. But it doesn't make sense if you really expect to be maintaining this software for many years and it's how you pay the bills. Why would you expect someone to charge a price that is less than it would cost? It makes no business sense.

Do you go to the grocery store and expect a price for "groceries for life"? No difference.

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I agree with you 110%

This what i was talking about...people that seem to think they know business economics. :roll_eyes:

Emby and Plex have been around and updating their software far longer than Channels DVR has existed (correct me if i am wrong devs)
Plex 12yrs, Emby (formerly MediaBrowser) at least 8yrs, (I can't find an exact year.)
Looks to me the really do maintain their software and pay the bills just fine.

Also, software is not a consumable item...like food. so that is not a valid comparison.
(and having worked at one...do u even know how much food is thrown out, how much a waste there is....its extreme! literally throwing money away.)

anyway, you can keep arguing about it all you wish, until mods get tired with it and lock the thread, as they have done to the others.

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This isn't zero sum! Lifetime (or some multi-year option) could easily be offered alongside the existing options.

There's some advantages to the dev's (they get up front capital) and the end-user can better manage longer term expenses.

It's funny how the guy lecturing us all on business economics is the who always feels entitled to something more than what they're being offered. The same person who complained to SD when their old Prime 3 wasn't working and when you were helped out to get a brand new one, 5 minutes later you're over here trying to hawk it for profit.

Knowing you, as soon as you pay for a Lifetime subscription, you'll be on here complaining about the pace of updates.

Cause that's what you do... complain, right?

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Lifetime doesn't make sense as, at the very least, they have to pay for the guide information ongoing.

Besides, I've seen more than a few applications play this game where find a way to get around the "lifetime" thing anyhow... because it makes little sense if you're in business for the long haul. I've seen many instances where the devs just rename the software to something else and say the Lifetime only applied to the original version.

Spotify is great for the listener, but bad for the artist. Most aren't making anything.

...they have to pay for the guide information ongoing.

I understand that hence they charge more for lifetime and put a % into an endowment or some other instrument to manage the recurring licensing costs. Plex clearly follows this model and they seem to be doing fine.

Again, nobody is forcing this on Channels, just asking if they'd be willing to do this for customers. Attempting to rationalize why they wouldn't do this seems really strange unless you work for Channels and have some insight into how they run the business?

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Your going off topic and taking about things you don't know about.

I never directly complained to SD, even when it failed, i just bought a new one. only a of handed mentioned a failed unit, they reached out and offered to test it, they did, but never communicated to me the results. they sent me a new one, without any notice, any asking me if i wanted one( i never expected to get a new one, as it was way past its 1yr warrenty)...i even told them, i no longer use it, no longer wanted one, and i had just dropped cable and was going to sell the working one i had...the dev at SD did not care and sent me it anyways, did not care what i did with it.....so of course i sold it off to someone who could use it,at a lower than going rate on ebay. no did not make a profit, as i still paid for 2 units in the end. and they cost much when i bought them new. ($249 each at Microcenter, i just found the faded receipts for them)

back to topic...

I could complain about getting too many updates...both Channels and Emby(that has lifetime plan) i update seemingly every other day. Emby has beta releases (with full changelog) every other week, and as frequent as every other day, at times. I am not a Plex user, but a quick glance at their forms, seems they have frequent enough updates. so...there is no lack of pace when it comes to updates in rearguards to that argument. All the above are equal, regardless of lifetime or no lifetime. so that is not at all a factor.

Guide info, well, users had to pay for a Schedule direct sub themselves, i did for years.
there are some free open source tv guide api or whatever to get data from too out there.

Now, i will say that Lifetime, can be a bad thing....if company goes under, then lifetime dont mean much to user anymore. Or , as I have had happen, company revokes Lifetime licenses and forces users to per month sub. Malwarebytes did that, CompTIA did that. just to name a few. But how much that angers the end user, is really dependent on how much initial investment they made fro the Lifetime license.

And, while I am no expect in business, i have had college classes in Business, and work in e-commerce, I do know that Investors, they agree to dumb one large lump sum into a startup or xyz business....not small amounts over years.
Thus, to many, and logically thinking, a purchase of a Lifetime plan/license, is a one time investment. The amount of that investment, is up to the company it self, to determine what is feasible for them to make it a viable option as a source of income and a purchase option for the end user, their customers.

Every few months this pops up ... and it is obvious for now that Channels will not be going lifetime..... so "Don't Worry Be Happy" ... there are at least 3 old threads on this subject.

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i wouldnt want it. A better option eventually may come around and then you regret the expenditure. Or they may take the software in a direction you dont like

I agree for the same reasons. Made that mistake previously with TiVo and Plex.

Since I'm happy so far, they get more from me as a monthly subscriber.
Most companies that offer a lifetime subscription do it to raise capital (to hire/expand/etc.)

The dev is only thinking of us, we could get run over by a bus tomorrow and then we only would have wasted all that cash on a lifetime pass for nothing.

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You really have a problem paying $80 once per year? It might be the greatest value in tv consumption for what you get legally.how much more of a discount fo you want?

What are you willing to pay for a lifetime subscription?

What will you do in 5 or 10 years when live tv looks completely different? Ask for a refund? Everything changes and tv and movies is changing pretty quickly over the last few years. I wish I didn't buy the blu-ray player that is collecting dust.

What will you do if a big money company comes in buys Channels?

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I love how just asking for another multi-year option results in much gnashing of teeth and general anxiety!

If it's made clear upfront that the risk is on the customer side, who cares if I'm willing to accept that risk?

I'd actually be willing to pay more for a multi year option! Let's say $250 for a 3 year subscription and see if there are any takers??? Where's the harm/risk in that to Channels? Seems like a no-brainer to get more capital now.

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