Technology

I think with quite a lot of software, monthly subs are really the best way to do it, and I think if you look at the history of things software is cheaper than it's ever been. Aside from the obvious things that just cost monthly money to operate (cloud storage, even weather apps don't keep working without servers) the reality is that we expect software to stay up to date and keep getting better. Aside from the fact that prior to sub fees for this type of software, the "one time" purchase cost used to be several orders of magnitude higher, and you would still basically end up "subscribing." Meaning, you didn't just buy Office in '95 for $300-$500 and keep using it until even 2005. MS would change a file format or upgrade a thing or something, and suddenly your $400 Office suite needed an upgrade, so you paid another $400 in '97.

People have never liked paying for software, but I think this is the most equitable, true model of the actual cost. I like it less with the bigger companies, but especially with smaller devs, the software I rely on I'm happy to pay a monthly sub on because I know that's a much more stable model and will encourage the dev to keep the software up to date and releasing new features.