FrameMaker 12 released

[Jim Owens]

After years with the same company, I'm just starting to re-invent myself 
as a contractor.  So far no one has asked for work in FrameMaker.  If 
they did, I'd have to consider my options. A thousand bucks is a big outlay.

On the other hand, I'd probably want it for no more than a month or two, 
so locking in for a year doesn't look appealing either.  And the point 
about having something that is mine and just keeps working is 
well-taken. So I would seriously consider an outright buy, high price 
notwithstanding, over a rental for a much longer term than I'd need, 
only to lose the investment.  (Why rent when you can buy, right?)

But given a choice, I'd just use other tools (OK, not Word). The book 
model of help delivery seems to be on the wane, and DITA is maturing 
nicely. . .


On 2014-01-17 14:31, Mike Wickham wrote:
> Syed, I think your math is right on. I can't understand why anyone 
> would pay more for a subscription that will render their software 
> useless the moment they stop paying. If they fall on hard times, the 
> perpetual license lets them at least keep working with their software 
> as long as they can keep a compatible operating system on an old 
> computer.
>
> If the issue is someone not being able to come up with the upgrade fee 
> all at once, and a monthly payment sounds more attractive, then they 
> should consider getting a short term bank loan (or put it on a credit 
> card) and pay the bank an even smaller monthly payment to buy the 
> perpetual license.
>
> And here's another thing, if a company thinks a monthly subscription 
> is a better to budget, they might also want to think about the resale 
> value of their company, should they ever want to sell it. A perpetual 
> license is an asset that can be resold and adds value to a company. A 
> subscription is future liability that reduces its value. If, as an 
> individual, they ever want to stop using FrameMaker, they can resell 
> their personal perpetual license and get some of their money back. Not 
> so with a subscription.
>
> I used to buy every upgrade of Creative Suite until it switched to the 
> Creative Cloud model. Now, CS6 is my last purchase in that line. I 
> won't pay big money for software that turns off completely if I stop 
> paying. I've also bought every FM upgrade since version 6, except for 
> v10, which offered no features that I needed. I will be buying the FM 
> 12 upgrade for sure. But I will be done buying if FM ever goes to the 
> subscription-only model.
>
> Those of you buying subscriptions are making it more and more likely 
> that the rest of us will lose the perpetual upgrade option in the near 
> future. If you look at how hard Adobe is trying to get people to buy 
> subscriptions, you will see that it is their desire to move FrameMaker 
> to that model. Let's not let them take away our choices.
>
> Mike
>
> On 1/17/2014 9:22 AM, Syed Zaeem Hosain (Syed.Hosain at aeris.net) wrote:
>> Using an 18 month model, the software subscription for FrameMaker is: 
>> 18 * 29.99, which is $539.82.
>>
>> An upgrade is $399 for that same upgrade in that 18 month period, 
>> right? And then the license is perpetual (at least until Adobe 
>> abandons this model in the future entirely), so that version keep 
>> working once somebody stops upgrading (not so in the subscription 
>> case when cancelled).
>
>
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