In the beginning, software was hardwired into the computer. Then came the programmable era, where software was coded by flipping switches or input from a stack of punchcards. Man, how things have changed.
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\nFor the longest time, software came in a box. You went to the software store, overpaid for a box of mostly air, came home and installed the program.<\/p>\n
The software arrived on floppy disks, which you dutifully shoved into the computer’s floppy drive. One disk was read, removed, and replaced by the second disk. The installation program told you when to swap disks. In some cases, you’d have to sit in front of the computer for an hour or so swapping up to 20 diskettes.<\/p>\n
Then came the optical disc. Imagine that: Installing a program required only one CD ROM!<\/p>\n
At some point, multiple CD ROMs were required, but then the DVD came to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Just as multiple DVDs were expected to be required, software became available over the Internet. In fact, today’s software box is simply a code you type at website so that your computer can spend the next several hours downloading a few gigabytes of software.<\/p>\n
I didn’t even mention the manuals: Software boxes original contained a manual. Though it was dreadful and often worse than having no manual, at least it was something. Today, help is all online and, well, still dreadful.<\/p>\n
Now even the one-time install model is failing. That’s because all the major software developers are moving to an online subscription model. It’s the future.<\/p>\n
Keep this in mind as you reluctantly drag yourself into an annual subscription model for all your favorite program: Manuals weren’t removed from the software box because people hated them. No, they were removed because the manuals were expensive. The beancounters justified the manual’s death because the material added weight to the box. The technical writers didn’t lose their jobs, they just wrote online content, which doesn’t have to be printed.<\/p>\n
Now the disks and boxes are gone for the same reason: They don’t have to be produced and the developer saves money. The problem remains, however, how to deal with updates. The solution is the annual software subscription.<\/p>\n
For a price, you get new versions of your programs all the time, automatically. No more boxes. No more worrying by the software devloper that people (specifically corporations) won’t update the software. Also, no more pressure on the developer to keep changing software to justify the updates. That’s actually a good thing.<\/p>\n
Originally, I detested the subscription model. I’ve come to enjoy it, however. I like that the software is actually maintained, which is closer to how programs worked back in the early days; onsite programmers were constantly fixing things and addressing issues.<\/p>\n
If you want to be a rebel, of course, you can go with freeware and other alternatives. You’ll still have to manually update. Then again, even this blog’s WordPress software is automatically updated at no cost. So, yes, the subscription model is the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Someday you’ll tell your grandkids how software once came in a box — with a manual!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7926"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7930,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7926\/revisions\/7930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}