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Chris No one is going to pay $29.70 for this for just a 12 month license and then have to renew to use the pro features again for $99.00

Oct 22 2016 at 12:23am Copy Link

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thecableguy Spending your money on real donuts probably would be a better deal.

Oct 23 2016 at 12:13am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Real donuts make you fat. PhotoDonut makes you an artist, even if you don't have the talent :)

Smith Micro - Oct 23 2016 at 12:45am Copy Link

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S D Fafalios It seems quite fair to me!

If you don't want to pay anything at all, get the free version.
$29.70 allows you to download, and keep for ever, all the premium content over the course of a year.
It also allows you to create your own style packs and apply them in batch mode to a bunch of photos, for a year.
It also allows you to (try) to resell your efforts to other users, giving you an outlet for your talents (if you have any) to a bunch of buyers for that particular product.

If after a year you want to renew, OK
If after a year you want to continue the premium services, that's $59
If after a year you don't want to pay any more, you still have the free version + a bunch of packs that you liked and downloaded.

What's not to like?

Oct 25 2016 at 6:55am Copy Link

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Chris @ S D Fafalios: "What's not to like?"

Online license activation is required with a hardware footprint, and 1 installation per footprint

For starters

Oct 25 2016 at 9:27am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Dear Chris, if you don't like it don't buy it.

PhotoDonut is free if you don't want to pay for the pro features.

One license allows for 3 installations at the same time (e.g. work, home and laptop), I think it is liberal enough. And our support is very helpful if you need to transfer your license to other machines later.

Smith Micro - Oct 25 2016 at 11:09am Copy Link

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Gary Smith @Bela,
>"PhotoDonut makes you an artist, even if you don't have the talent"
No it doesn't. Otherwise, Art Shows would allow what this program creates to compete with what real artists have produced. They don't; they know better. It is an insult to true artists to claim this program makes the buyer an artist even if they don't have the talent.

People would be interested in the product, not for the logic you propose, but because of the interesting effects the program can create. We have seen similar programs that users did show an interest in. If the product had been priced more reasonable, you would have a lot more people interested. Thankfully, there are other alternatives in this field, and without this type of pricing.

Oct 25 2016 at 8:16pm Copy Link

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Bela Biro Gary, keep it in context, please. It was a funny comment (with a smiley), to reply to an unnecessarily negative comment.

Of course, it won't make the average user an artist. But it will take her much closer to artistic results in minutes than hours of hard work in Photoshop.

And about reasonable pricing: similar programs may cost $30-$50 PER EFFECT (plus a few presets), that they call a separate plugin. These are completely free for PhotoDonut Pro users and new ones keep coming during the year that we propose here.

Smith Micro - Oct 25 2016 at 9:51pm Copy Link

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Craig User Hey guys,
I have downloaded free version and messed around for a couple of hours and i have to say i like it. I dont like the yearly subscription. I have other programs by akvis, whicj are just one off payments for very good programs.

Heres my question,

Once the trial runs out ( 30 days) can i just buy the packs i want seperately and will i still be able to use them without paying a subscription ?

Oct 26 2016 at 2:54am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Sure, that's the very idea of a Style Shop. You can buy the packs that you like, separately. The subscription, in this case a Premium Subscription, is just a peace of mind approach to the shop.

The Pro Subscription (proposed here) contains the Premium Subscription (i.e. everything for free in the shop), plus the pro features if you need them.

Smith Micro - Oct 26 2016 at 3:43am Copy Link

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Craig User I liked the donut vs real donut comparison. I'd go for this deal if it was lifetime, that's the kind of deals I usually see here.

(Lifetime of Pro.)

Oct 26 2016 at 5:45am Copy Link

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Craig User Hi,
Thanks for quick reply. Well, i reckon photo donut is great. I never knew it existed.
Buying the packs i need is a better option for me but like the above comment said, a lifetime option would be tempting :)

Oct 26 2016 at 5:59am Copy Link

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Lee H I've never liked subscription software, therefore will not be buying this one.

Oct 26 2016 at 6:44am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Let's enumerate the great disadvantages of subscription software:

- You get all major version upgrades (like PhotoDonut 2) for free
- You can pay a low monthly fee instead of buying a lifetime license for a single high price (this promo on BdJ is even better, you get a whole year for the price of 3 months)
- You get every new effect for free for a whole year and you can keep them forever
- You make sure that the development of PhotoDonut continues and more artists are hired to create more (free) effects for you
- You can stop paying if you find you don't really use the pro features (vs. the whole money lost with a lifetime license)

Oh, wait, are these really disadvantages?

Smith Micro - Oct 26 2016 at 7:10am Copy Link

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Dan Amiel Bela, your arguments are very valid....but:
You have to consider that software buyers generally buy lots of them in the course of a year for different purposes. Imagine if they had to pay a low "subscription fee" for everyone of them, they would be broke every month. The point in paying a one-time fee is to be sure that the buyer needs and will use this software on a daily basis, but who does this nowadays anyway with the humongous choice of programs ? I would rather pay one time for a "Pro" version of a software and know it is mine, use it and find out until the next upgrade if i will be using it extensively in the future or not. If yes, i would be happy to pay for the next upgrade. If not, i don't have to pay anything anymore but still enjoy the pro version i purchased. Makes sense ?

Oct 26 2016 at 7:39am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Dan, of course, it makes sense. People lived like this for ages.

But the same is true for CDs, DVDs and books, so nobody uses Spotify, Netflix and Amazon Prime? And Dropbox? And Evernote? Just to name a few from my phone's home screen ... If I add my internet and gym subscriptions to these it really ruins me every month. That's how we live today.

The world changes. Should I mention Adobe Creative Cloud?

Smith Micro - Oct 26 2016 at 8:17am Copy Link

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Dan Amiel You can't compare paying for spinal chord universal services of our digital edge like listening to music, cloud hosting files or other similar, with very specific uses of software like yours though.

Oct 26 2016 at 9:57am Copy Link

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Dan Amiel Nonetheless, it's a very beautiful software and the photo of your team i saw on the homepage tells me that you are not bad people who try to rip others out, on the contrary, you seem all very friendly. I might give it a try for a year.

Oct 26 2016 at 10:07am Copy Link

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H. H. @Beta Biro
Hallo, you´ve developed quite an interesting piece of Software, but unfortunately there are 2 absolute dealbreakers for me too:

1. the subscription- model and no alternative to buy the pro Version as a lifetime license. E.g. when having only little time (e.g because of having to work hard in the Job) it does not make sense to pay all the months one does not have the time for hobbies. So when a software is only offered as subscription model it will become far too expensive in comparison to thelLittle time being used and for that the decision will be made against purchasing. When interesting software is being offered people may make the decision for purchasing even if they will not use it instantly - but having it for later usage.

2. 3 PCs is ok - but why only 1 Installation per hardware footprint - that´s a dealbreaker too because even a system-reinstallation leads to the loss of license. What disadvantages restricitve handling of Hardware footprinted activation has may be read at http://www.bitsdujour.com...footprints

3. that times changes does not mean, that they change to the better - or is planned hardware / electronic machines obsolescence a good thing? - or are the increasing number of Smartphone models with accus which can´t be replaced by the consumer a good thing? - that Adobe only offers only subscription does not mean that it is a good thing. Of course that´s not the problem for commercial users, but I think that many private persons looked for alternatives (me too).

But as a longterm effect subscription and hareware footprinted licenses may help people to save money - why?:
because customers may reflect more intensively e.g.
- do I really Need that Software - will it really be worth the mothly / annual Price regarding the Features and the opportunities to use it or is the already owned Software sufficient too
- do I really Need that Software - regarding the Trouble and Price if a hardware change is required, or does the already owned software also cover the daily Needs
- do I really Need a new PC / NB or will a new purchase cause so much Trouble (time and money) regarding all the hardware footprinted software that one has to prefer to keep the current hardware

Hopefully you will reconsider the subscirption and license model and offer a more user-friendly alternative.for your otherwise promising software.
I certainly would have made a purchase today if no abo and 1 Installation per footprint.
But at least thank you for not having an automatic subscription renewal and offering a free Version. Please apoligze my mistakes in english language

Thank you for considering
H.H.

Oct 26 2016 at 11:23am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Dan: thank you for your kind words and support.

H.H. : It is completely unnecessary to worry about the installations and footprints and all the technical details. It is how it works, the licensing technology comes from our e-commerce provider. If you ever run into any problems with your hardware, our support will fix it for you. Your license is yours, we don't want to restrict anybody.

Smith Micro - Oct 26 2016 at 2:09pm Copy Link

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Gary Smith @Bela,
>"It was a funny comment (with a smiley), to reply to an unnecessarily negative comment."
I don't think the comment should be classified as an "unnecessarily negative comment" because it made a valid point from that user's point of view, and probably others as well. I actually thought it was funny, and when I read it, thought "Good point."

I live close to a great donut shop, have donuts in the kitchen almost always, and consume them pretty much daily, ... but they have not made me fat. Each person can be affected by the same foods differently of course, but I am not overweight, and perfectly healthy per my doctor. Think about it; you don't really want to attack the donut makers do you. From my experience, donut makers are pretty nice people.

I do get a lot of satisfaction from real donuts, and feel the money well spent. I also feel the same way on a lot of the software I have purchased, and it seems like others have made great software purchases and also thought the money well spent. On the other hand, the price for PhotoDonut has not been received as well by many of the readers here. The people that monitor these offerings are from a diverse group, but still the majority seem to not want to go with subscription based software the way that Adobe PhotoShop and your PhotoDonut is being offered.

As far as PhotoDonut, I think it is a great program. The main problem is the price, not what the software offers. PhotoDonut is in a niche class, with what it produces; it isn't PhotoShop; it does not have a history of users that are depending on using it on a daily basis. Its value is somewhat limited as a result. The idea that the program can create an image in minutes compared to hours in PhotoShop, does not mean that a plug-in for PhotoShop could not do the same.

There are several "alternative" programs that offer similar results, and there are more and more plug-ins (for software that can use them) that do similar things. Thankfully, these alternatives and plug-ins are ensuring competition, and as a result, reduced prices for the same effects. The $30 to $50 per effect will have the same difficulties as PhotoDonut has; the competition is gaining.

I actually enjoy these types of programs. PhotoDonut is a great example of what can be accomplished based on a photo or image. You certainly should be commended on creating a very nice product (aside from the pricing model). I have been using graphics editing programs since the earliest DOS days (there weren't any for the CP/M OS that hung around long enough). It was a natural for me, since I also am an artist, and did a lot of professional photography; becoming a programmer meant that all those interests came together nicely.

As a software developer, and having spent a great career in software marketing, I know that the right price for any software program can be difficult to come up with. I have seen numerous software packages that overpriced themselves out of the market, and some that made some drastic changes, and as a result, were able to stay in the market. One product that I often think about, reduced the price to 10% of the original, but sold not 10 times as many, but over 20 times as many copies of the software. It was the one thing they credit as allowing their product to stay in the market.

In the late 70s, the first ads started showing up for a Pascal Compiler for $49. Such a small price for a compiler was unheard of in those days. The $29 compiler was not long behind, and soon, there were others that jumped on the low-price bandwagon to success. Open Source software soon followed, and has opened many more opportunities for great software.

Yes, the times are changing, and thankfully, competition is still alive and well.

When you offer a product to this group, you will get some honest feedback. Take those comments as valuable information. See if you can come up with a product that does get received well here. Then you are on the road to a successful product. Granted, you have a tough audience here, but don't let that sway you from following your heart in the marketing field. That is how competition thrives.

Oct 26 2016 at 8:43pm Copy Link

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Jars Clay As a comp geek I've attempted to pay from IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome. It is NOT on my end. I had high hopes and I'm quite discouraged by it and that I may not get a chance to get the pro again.

I've tried to buy the pro but it keeps saying:

Secure Connection Failed

The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.

Oct 26 2016 at 11:18pm Copy Link

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Aksar Niit I will not discuss its quality of product and work done by the developers. But convince me to pay for a subscription 99 .- / year, as I already have a subscription at Adobe (9.- / student Month) !!? It's a bit complicated. I am not a professional and I have no income of my artistic work.

PhotoDonut seems to be a good product, but not a mass product as can be the Adobe Suite or MS Office or anyother OS.

I would rather pay $ 39.- and $ 19.- for an upgrade than paying 29.- now 99.- a year, knowing I probably will not renew.

Budapest is a very nice, a friend working at LogMeIn :) I would maybe see you next summer.

Greetings

Oct 26 2016 at 11:19pm Copy Link

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Bela Biro Jars: it was probably a temporary glitch. It works for other people buying from this site and I just tried it myself.

Smith Micro - Oct 26 2016 at 11:26pm Copy Link

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Bela Biro Aksar: several things can happen in a year when you will face the question of "to renew or not to renew".

- You fall in love with PhotoDonut and the question won't be a question
- You switch to a monthly subscription plan that is easier to pay
- You don't fall in love with PhotoDonut and you continue to use the free version with all the content that you downloaded during the year, and maybe with a few individual purchases from the shop
- You will hunt for a deal like this
- We may change our licensing policy

What you have to consider now is the current offer, not what will happen in a year.

Smith Micro - Oct 26 2016 at 11:34pm Copy Link

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Chris OK, I bit the bullet and purchased but there is nowhere to put the key and when I tried to create an account via the program it told me I already existed so I had it reset my password. It says I am a pro subscriber but it is pending and the packs etc cost money.

Please advise.

Oct 27 2016 at 12:44am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Chris, you don't need to create a new account, with your purchase your Pro account was already created for you.

Just follow the Settings / My PhotoDonut / Manage my PhotoDonut Account path and log in.

Your login name is your billing email address, your password is your serial number (as displayed on your invoice).

If you have any further problems please write to support

xycod.com for assistance.

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 12:58am Copy Link

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Chris Sorry, I can not change the info in the program now. I sent email to sales at xycod.com

EDIT:
====
Also, I had the program change my password and now it won't take the serial key as the password.

I was able to uninstall it and remove all traces of it and reinstall it and it let me input the info again, but as I said it won't take the key and when I put in the new password I received it goes back to pending registration.

I noticed you read the email I sent to sales at xycod.com but have no reply.

Can you change my password back to the serial key?
Also, why wasn't this clear upon purchasing the program?

Thanks...

Oct 27 2016 at 1:03am Copy Link

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Bela Biro PhotoDonut was designed for in-app purchases. 3rd party promos like this make the process less self-explanatory.

We understood that and it is all made very simple in the upcoming 1.1 version, but this BitsDuJour event was already scheduled, and we could not release 1.1 in time.

Support will reply to you, but I think that the main problem here is that you somehow missed the email address verification email (it went to spam or something). That's why your subscription status is pending. Try to find your verification email, otherwise support will fix it for you.

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 2:36am Copy Link

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Craig User Hi,
Thought i would take the leap but its coming up at £83 after a £69 discount.
So the original price would have been around £152. I know the pounds slumped but i know it aint this bad :)

Is there a problem with payments ?

Sorry, its coming up at £89.03 after a £63 discount.

Oct 27 2016 at 3:11am Copy Link

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Craig User Hi,
Thought i would take the leap but its coming up at £83 after a £69 discount.
So the original price would have been around £152. I know the pounds slumped but i know it aint this bad :)

Is there a problem with payments ?

Sorry, its coming up £89 after discount.

Oct 27 2016 at 3:12am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Didn't you put it twice into the cart? 152 pounds look like two times the PhotoDonut list price.

If that is the case, just delete one from the cart and proceed to the normal discounted payment.

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 3:37am Copy Link

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Craig User Hi,
no, just once. Just tried again and same problem. Just took a screen shot but can not put it on here.

Oct 27 2016 at 3:59am Copy Link

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Craig User Hi,
I think i have made a mistake, its ok.

Oct 27 2016 at 4:05am Copy Link

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Craig User Purchased :)

Oct 27 2016 at 4:10am Copy Link

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Bela Biro OK, great! Thanks for your purchase :)

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 4:17am Copy Link

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Craig User Hi,
I have purchased now and it was ok. Just one more question. I thought the pro version entitles me to all packs in the shop. Does this include the ones for sale or are they seperate ?

Oct 27 2016 at 4:20am Copy Link

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Bela Biro All packs (including the paid ones) are free with the Pro subscription.

You might not log in yet, so the program doesn't know about your license.

Just follow the Settings / My PhotoDonut / Manage my PhotoDonut Account path and log in.

Your login name is your billing email address, your password is your serial number (as displayed on your invoice).

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 4:32am Copy Link

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Chris I never received any mail to verify my account. I have checked and checked and checked again. I sent support an email as well and it was read but no reply to i

Oct 27 2016 at 4:42am Copy Link

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Bela Biro Your account was fixed on the server side and I sent you an email response from our support portal. Still no luck with your login?

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 5:04am Copy Link

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Chris Thank you for letting me know. I did not receive any email from you though. I was able to log in with my email and serial key this time and can now download content.

I have no idea why your emails are not coming through. I did subscribe to the newsletter via the program and got the email to verify my subscription to it.

Oct 27 2016 at 7:43am Copy Link

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Bela Biro The support portal received your emails from a strange email address with a domain like this: @aol.com.dtri.org

Your real email address is probably the one with @aol.com, so I don't know how we got the bizarre one mentioned above. Maybe that's why you did not see the support responses.

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 8:04am Copy Link

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Chris That is the site that notifies me that you read my email. It isn't supposed to be on there. It is aol.com

dtri is Did They Read It

Oct 27 2016 at 9:41am Copy Link

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Louis H @ Bela Biro

I almost overlooked this one as I have been using it since it was released earlier this year.

I notice that the fine print says the following.....

"This promotion can be used to upgrade or extend an existing license."

Is this true? Can I upgrade my existing PRO license for an extra year by purchasing this offer?

If so, is there anything extra I need to do in order to get it applied. From other comments I see where folks purchasing for the first time are getting an account set up in connection with the purchase here. I want to avoid ending up with two accounts instead of adding this on to my existing one.

Thanks.

Oct 27 2016 at 2:28pm Copy Link

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Ronald Jurman "What's not to like?"

The price, the retail price is too high for this category of fun graphics software. Five years ago, maybe at that time, but now there are so many artistic effect graphic products available in this category for considerably less (some of which have appeared here, as well as on GotD with permanent licenses). The sale price seems reasonable, except for:

The "subscription" after which the pro features are disabled, unless one renews, at a price that's, well, just too high.

Otherwise, looks like fun (can't trial it though, I'm away, and the system that I have with me is a Win Vista), so I see the appeal, but "fun" software is largely what puts a limit on it's acceptable price, along with:

Subscription, again. I got burned (2 years of subscription, for literally nothing, no updates and a company that's gone into hiding) on graphics software recently, so subscription is absolutely out. Sorry to put it that way, but subscription can not just get expensive, but it can also turn into a gamble. Just not worth it.

Oct 27 2016 at 3:57pm Copy Link

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Louis H @ Ronald Jurman

Could you make us aware of the graphics software you were burned on.

The reason I ask is sometimes I come across programs that sound attractive and I like to know if others have had problems with them.

I understand how one can indeed be very leery of companies that do this.

Since you have raised the specter of shady companies, I wanted to take a moment and share my own experience with Xycod.

I have been using PhotoDonut going back to when it was PostworkShop (3 Major version changes over it's lifetime prior to the release of PhotoDonut this year. First released in 2009 and V3 was first released in 2013.) I have always received replies to all my email inquires. They are based in Hungary and occasionally the time difference comes into play. They have been very helpful to me - especially during the period where they were developing PhotoDonut to replace PostworkShop 3.

I place value on the company behind the software as much as on the software itself. My experience has shown me that I can trust this company and its software. The only reason I might not continue a subscription with Xycod is if I simply cannot afford it at the time it is due to renew. (Retired now and on a fixed income.)

Oct 27 2016 at 5:48pm Copy Link

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Ronald Jurman @ Louis H

No, not naming names, for obvious reasons. I will say that it was in 3D animation, a long-established company, with an excellent and mature product. If you know the industry, the talk, you can probably answer that question yourself (but I won't confirm it).

Perhaps a key person died (but the web site still appears live and selling the product, including subscriptions), perhaps the owners had good intentions, and things just fell through, perhaps in a year or two it will suddenly resurrect. But after a couple of years, with the forums shut down, no product updates, and no official (or indeed, any) statements, news, or responses, pretty much all have given up hope, and the product and company are rarely even mentioned anymore.

What is clear, is that companies can come to an untimely end, and as a subscriber, you're gambling on that not happening (as well as prepaying for development that has not and may not happen).

What is equally clear is that if a company has a reduced functionally timer tied to that subscription, that you, as a customer who wants to retain the full functionality of that product, are compelled to continually renew the subscription, no matter how little subsequent development is done, or whether the subscription price goes up, just to hang onto the functionality you currently have (and the longer you've been paying into the subscription, the more you've invested). That's crazy!

And what's also clear, is that unless the company changes that licensing policy, is that like almost every company, the end will someday come (competition, funding, etc.), and the customers at that time will have to deal with their products timing out. Oh, well.

Oct 27 2016 at 9:49pm Copy Link

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Bela Biro Louis: unfortunately it does not work like that, the e-commerce server won't extend your subscription if you buy a license here. The fine print that you mentioned is just the standard BitsDuJour text, that we interpreted as PD to PD Pro upgrade and left it in the description.

Ronald: I think that any respectable company that is forced to cease operations should, as its last act, release un unrestricted version to the existing subscribers. If that ever happens, Xycod will do that.

Smith Micro - Oct 27 2016 at 10:38pm Copy Link

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Ronald Jurman Bela: Glad to hear. Alas, the issue that I find to be 'crazy' about subscription with reduced functionality timer is what I consider the main deal killer.

Oct 27 2016 at 11:49pm Copy Link

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