[Leica] Re. Capture One "perpetual license" changes

[Peter Klein]

Peter Dzwig wrote:

>  by sheer chance when I was in the supermarket this afternoon, I came 
>  across a copy of Amateur Photography (amateurphotography.co.uk). This 
>  month's edition has not only a comparative summary of the main PS 
>  alternatives, but also an extensive comparative test of each of the 
>  software packages setting out their pros and cons.

It's amateurphotographer.co.ok (the person, not the pastime). I figured that out quickly.  :-)

Thanks, Peter.  This article was helpful, and had links to another article about free and open-source software. It does not bode well that Capture One is giving everyone until Jan 30 to upgrade to pony up $200 for the current version, after which a new "customer loyalty scheme" will begin. And that new, ahem, "scheme" will be announced on... (drum rol)...  Feb 1.  In other words, people have to gamble on whether they will do better sending in a couple of hundred dollars now, or waiting to see what will happen in February.

All this is reminiscent of what happened with the music notation program Sibelius after the Avid company bought it. In that case, I sent in my money to upgrade before the Big Announcement of the New Era. Which turned out to be so draconian that I switched to another program.

I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude on Capture One. I am not going to upgrade now, because my experience with Sibelius tells me that will probably be throwing good money away. The two year-old version I'm using is fine for my needs. I am happy to pay for new innovation that meets my needs. But if they force us into a "subscribe forever or lose your work scheme," they're fired.  Meanwhile, I will continue to use the version I have, and begin to explore the alternatives.

--Peter