Are you READY!!! for the future of PC. Paying montly fees to use your computer.

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ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,446
126
I always found it difficult to believe that around 1% of people suffer from schizophrenia, but it's threads like these that remind me that the paranoid delusional types don't really exist in the outside world.

I'm not really buying the OP's vision of the future, but not all of this is science fiction.

You're already seeing things like locked bootloaders on cell phones and tablets, always on Internet connected DRM in games like SimCity, and Software As A Service (SaaS) rental programs like Office 365.

I could see this phenomenon starting with the wireless carriers offering "free" Chromebooks for the price of a 2 year wireless contract. Microsoft would need to offer a Windows product with Office to compete, and we're off to the races from there.
 

colonelciller

Senior member
Sep 29, 2012
915
0
0
Get ready!, it is coming in the near future.

Adobe CS is now rent only in the future. Office 365 is just an early start, eventually Office will be rent only as well. Everything will be cloud this and cloud that.


People are used to paying 100 bucks a month for cell service, 100-160 bucks a month for TV.

Eventually desktops will be the same.

Like Cable TV the future will look like this.


Basic Computer package (OS only no apps, internet browser and email included. ) 12 dollars a month.

All packages ride on the basic package you must pay for.

Business lite package (adds word-processing and spreadsheet lite versions) 15 dollars a month

Business package, full uncut version - 35 a month.

Video pack, home edition 15 a month (edit movies)

Video pack pro, (75 a month)

Photo editor pack (non pro), 15 a month
Photo edit pack pro 50 a month

Command line package, 50 cents a month.
IP tools pack (telnet,ssh,ping) 50 cents a month, requires command line pack

AV/malware/firewall - 8 dollars a month

Sports package, 35 a month.
Gamers deluxe package, 60 a month

etc..

Its coming, I say 4-8 years from now Computers will be like cable.



Oh and Linux will still be dead on the desktop.
glad to see people starting to realize what "the cloud" is all about.
win 8 is a step in this direction, and yet people defend its virtues... office subscription... adobesubscription...

must be utterly lacking in vision to defend these things, and yet techies do... it baffles the mind
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
Nice sensationalism, OP.

Just vote with your wallet. Don't use software that requires monthly fees.
...
And if everyone on Anandtech did that, that would impact the industry's annual profits by at least 0.011%.


And soon there will be a monthly fee to process monthly fees
Some businesses come close.

"New customer uptake fee." - also known as the "Dammit, not another paying customer" fee.
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
6,762
1
0
I love the denial a lot of you are in. The OP is a little over sensationalist, but the general gist is correct. I suspect that within the next 10 years, the vast majority of our computers will be cloud based. You will pay a monthly service fee to access your desktop and your "computer" will just be essentially a dumb terminal that streams a live video feed from your hosted computer.

And I suspect that the backlash against these ideas will be coming in the next ten years.

I'm sure a lot of stuff will be cloud-based. And a lot of people will realize how much being cloud-based sucks and there will be a resurgence in real computing.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
And if everyone on Anandtech did that, that would impact the industry's annual profits by at least 0.011%.


Some businesses come close.

"New customer uptake fee." - also known as the "Dammit, not another paying customer" fee.

I thought it was pretty standard for telecom companies, Cox, Comcast, Time Warner, etc, and wireless carrier companies to add bill processing fees.


Regarding the topic, if that happens, I'll be on Linux completely. Gaming is the only thing keeping me with Windows now. And I don't think it'll take long of paying monthly for basic computer use for Linux to explode in a big way. Heck, Steam for Linux already has more unique installs than Steam Mac. And its barely out of Beta and only officially on Ubuntu.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
I thought it was pretty standard for telecom companies, Cox, Comcast, Time Warner, etc, and wireless carrier companies to add bill processing fees.
...
If cows had money, these places would charge them rent for the time they lived on the feedlot.
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
4
76
At least this paves the way for other products to become more relevant. Programs like gimp, open office, etc... might start to gain momentum.
 

Jodell88

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
8,762
30
91
If that happens (which is actually plausible).

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UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,942
9,235
136
I actually wouldn't mind paying a monthly fee for a virtual machine in a secure, fault-tolerant cloud with OS license, software package, etc. I'd be able to login from anywhere using two-factor authentication and some IT guy somewhere would take care of all software updates and patches so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

Of course, I would expect infinite, fault-tolerant storage (storage that expanded as I used it), periodic upgrades to CPU/RAM without any need to reimage, and the ability to use "burst mode" (add cores/GHz/RAM instantly on demand based on use case, like for video transcoding or whatnot.) I could see a consumer use for that someday maybe as LTE Advanced or 5G gets rolled out.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
I actually wouldn't mind paying a monthly fee for a virtual machine in a secure, fault-tolerant cloud with OS license, software package, etc. I'd be able to login from anywhere using two-factor authentication and some IT guy somewhere would take care of all software updates and patches so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

Of course, I would expect infinite, fault-tolerant storage (storage that expanded as I used it), periodic upgrades to CPU/RAM without any need to reimage, and the ability to use "burst mode" (add cores/GHz/RAM instantly on demand based on use case, like for video transcoding or whatnot.) I could see a consumer use for that someday maybe as LTE Advanced or 5G gets rolled out.
Just hope that they don't decide to deny you access to their data (which you put on their servers for your own use) for any reason, such as some kind of internal financial meltdown on their part.

Their servers, their data, their control.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,441
5,434
136
If only gamers voted with their wallets, gaming world would be a different place.

I do vote with my wallet. Ever since I graduated college and got a real job I buy whatever I want, when I want.

While I don't game as much as I used to I've bought games that I liked the concept of or wanted to support the developer for even if I never played them. Conversely, I don't spend money on anything EA.
 

natto fire

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2000
7,117
10
76
I do vote with my wallet. Ever since I graduated college and got a real job I buy whatever I want, when I want.

While I don't game as much as I used to I've bought games that I liked the concept of or wanted to support the developer for even if I never played them. Conversely, I don't spend money on anything EA.

Same here, I have got some duds in the hundreds I have spent on Steam, but gaming is without doubt the best bang for buck on my entertainment dollar. Have not went to the movies in a long time when I can get triple digit hours of gaming for the price or less than a two hour movie.

Valve has so much momentum in creating such value in gaming that I hate to sound like a rabid fanboy, but I have felt massively spoiled by the glut of good timesinking games.

Throw in humble bundles and how out of tune I am with AAA titles and you have another yuppie who refuses to pay more than $7.50 for a game which is not necessarily what the gaming industry needs, but at least it also solidified my reformation of never pirating games. That snowballed to never pirating any software, which is a transformation 6 years in the making and I am actually kind of proud of considering how much I used to steal.

I still stick by my guns that OP is over exaggerating a very easily sidestepped problem. Even if this is draconian software model is implemented in hardware down to the BIOS, there will be HUGE groups of (I would be much more lenient with the white hat title at this point) hackers reverse engineering this assault on traditional computing. It would be neat to see this struggle, but I am more enamored with win-win situations, so I don't think it will be attempted in most sectors. Assuming devs keep a distinction between mobile OSes and more traditional x86 ones there should be a bit of distinction, but I fear that optimized code is going to take a significant backseat to portability.

Hopefully Intel grits their teeth and uses engineering might to keep x86 alive for a while, because this dystopian future the OP paints would be a helluva lot more feasible if mainstream is busy moving to a new instruction set (RISC?) from x86.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,531
12,647
126
www.anyf.ca
I actually wouldn't mind paying a monthly fee for a virtual machine in a secure, fault-tolerant cloud with OS license, software package, etc. I'd be able to login from anywhere using two-factor authentication and some IT guy somewhere would take care of all software updates and patches so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

Of course, I would expect infinite, fault-tolerant storage (storage that expanded as I used it), periodic upgrades to CPU/RAM without any need to reimage, and the ability to use "burst mode" (add cores/GHz/RAM instantly on demand based on use case, like for video transcoding or whatnot.) I could see a consumer use for that someday maybe as LTE Advanced or 5G gets rolled out.

In a perfect world sure, but the issue is not having your data with you, and the fact that you have to depend on your internet as well as their service being available, and fast. Too many middle mans. I rather do everything in my own internal network that I have 100% control over and my activities being contained within.
 

CA19100

Senior member
Jun 29, 2012
634
13
76
Microsoft beta tested this already. It went over swimmingly with the sheeple masses. It's called the XBox 360 and XBox Live. Idiots Consumers gobbled this shit product up and claimed it provided a far better user experience than free alternatives, so therefore we all end up paying for it in the end. :rolleyes:

My PS3-using friend will be find it a tremendous relief that, when the PlayStation Network was shut down for weeks, he was having the exact same user experience I was on my XBOX. :whiste:

I subscribe to Xbox Live off and on. (I'm currently enjoying a free month thanks to Bing Rewards, which is nice.) When I don't subscribe, my XBOX and my games all work just fine; only the online play is missing. That's the service I'm paying for. Single-player play is not dependent on any subscription.
 

Murloc

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2008
5,382
65
91
My PS3-using friend will be find it a tremendous relief that, when the PlayStation Network was shut down for weeks, he was having the exact same user experience I was on my XBOX. :whiste:

I subscribe to Xbox Live off and on. (I'm currently enjoying a free month thanks to Bing Rewards, which is nice.) When I don't subscribe, my XBOX and my games all work just fine; only the online play is missing. That's the service I'm paying for. Single-player play is not dependent on any subscription.
yeah but most of the value you get out of call of duty et similia is playing it online, otherwise the game is worthless.
 

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
In a perfect world sure, but the issue is not having your data with you, and the fact that you have to depend on your internet as well as their service being available, and fast. Too many middle mans. I rather do everything in my own internal network that I have 100% control over and my activities being contained within.

I agree with this 100% ... I will not store my data, anywhere than on my own computer or media. If it is elsewhere, access can be denied, files lost, files read (yes even with encryption) and in the cloud, they would be easy for the government to get access to, if they felt they had a need to do so. Not so easy if it is on my computer, as they would not even know what files I have.
 

who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
This is how mainframe computing has always been done and I believe the USPS pays licensing fees for the software for all the mail sorting equipment.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,008
8,241
126
Since this thread was started, I could count the software I paid for on one hand, not counting donations. I still don't do subscriptions. BTW, debian bookworm was just released this past Saturday. Took a half hour to download(on my slow connection), and fully upgrade my computer. Windows can barely do a simple install of a large package in that time :^D It was of course flawless, and is working great.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,531
12,647
126
www.anyf.ca
It's crazy how much commercial software is subscription based now. At one point I was thinking of actually PAYING for Adobe Premiere as I was getting annoyed with kdenlive. But they don't even offer the option to pay outright for software anymore it seems everything is going subscription based. Same with CAD software it seems everything is all subscription and cloud based now. There are certain things where the open source offerings are just not good enough and I wouldn't mind paying but only if I could pay once and own it forever. Not touching this subscription crap.

On total random note I pulled some drives out of my NAS after replacing them one by one with larger ones to grow the raid, and the drives were from the 2013 when this thread was made. :eek: They had a good run, and still work fine, so will go to backup duty. some of the home automation stuff I have is probably about that old too. One of the advantages of self hosted/diy stuff is that it lasts. Cloud based solutions would have surely have required firmware upgrades and crap many times over by now and maybe even cease to work altogether.
 

Stiff Clamp

Senior member
Feb 3, 2021
874
327
106
No. Not ready for a subscription-based future where I have to pay in perpetuity to use anything.

My only subscription currently is to a print magazine. hah. And I sometimes ask to cancel. BUt then they hit me with a dollar-or-less per issue offer, and so I renew. Still subbed.