Upgrade Pricing
After initial struggles, a screwed library, regular crashes when attempting any edit, and severe buyers remorse, I finally found peace with C1 and have been happily using it for a couple of months now. Mind You, support (does it actually exist?) wasn't part of the process or in any form reassuring, but the latest updates just silently fixed things for me. It's a funny way of shipping products meant for business.
While I am looking forward to an update, I am curious: how do just two new (and, IMO, niche) features justify the high upgrade price? Is this how things are around here? Also, is there a discount only from the previous version or from any version? Meaning, if I decide to upgrade to the version after 22 (23?) from 21 (which I currently own and use) what can I expect, price wise?
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C1 usually releases one major versions a year, "major" means a higher number, not necessarily major enhancements. Though what one user does not need another users has been waiting for and will cheerish it. You can search for release notes to make up your opinion.
Regardind discount: yes, in the past you have had an upgrade discount from I think two versions back. But things can change, C1 is in other hands now, maybe we even see only subscriptions in the future.
EDIT: btw, in the latter case I will be using my C1 version as long as it runs, and search for an alternative. But you don't have to worry about versions if you jump on that bandwagon...
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@OP,
Part of the reason for an annual update (and the development cost recovery associated with it) is to do with the updating required for Mac and Windows operating system changes delivered every year at around this time.
Historically this time of year has also been a period when new cameras and lenses, announced a little earlier in the year and often at the (now defunct?) Photokina show in September, have finally become available full production versions. So they can be checked and tested and included. (That pattern seems to be less consistent these days partly due to current circumstances and partly due to the decline of dedicated camera sales as smart phones have gained wide popularity.)
And then there are the new features that can be added at the time of the release (giving something on which to hang some PR pitches). There may also be some underlying changes to technology that don't mean much now but allow further developments to be added and delivered without additional consumer costs between the new major release and the next major release in about a year's time.
Of course, those companies that have converted to subscription models still tend to follow the same pattern even though they do not really need to do so from a product delivery perspective. Presumably this is because it is expected anyway and gives them some regular opportunities for justified PR communications to their customers.
To get some idea of what an upgrade cost might be the logical approach would be to monitor the subscription cost and expect a small premium over the annual subscription cost to cover the right to use the application without upgrading for as long as you still have a computer and its operating system version that will allow you to run the application and any peripheral devices you might need for your created output.
However, as BeO has already observed in the previous reply, there is no certainty (from any company) that the business practices they currently apply will continue to be applied in the future. Perhaps the best we can expect is that, IF things are to change at some point, customers are given an acceptable advanced notice of the changes so that they can formulate their own future plans in advance.
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