this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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Just saying: Lifetime Licences for Services are a ponzi scheme
I'd say it depends on how much the license costs vs how the service costs.
The analogy that comes to mind is old cemeteries (YMMV, this is from a New England perspective). People buy a grave and expect to occupy it forever. This is a problem for cemeteries because a cemetery will eventually run out of graves to sell. The sales of graves goes towards the upkeep of the cemetery. Once there's no more space, there's no more sales, and there's no more income for upkeep.
Some cemeteries get around this by reusing graves. You rent a grave for, say, 20 years and after 20 years of occupancy your next of kin is asked if they'd like to renew your subscription.
Other places charge a much higher upfront fee and invest it, using the interest to pay for ongoing maintenance.
Other places just abandon the cemetery and let it grow over with weeds.
*ponzi scheme
This analogy makes no sense
... in what way? primarily selling products to employees?
Edited the comment, used the wrong word
I still don't get it. aren't pyramid and ponzi schemes more or less the same thing? how is the original subject either of them?
So, a service is something yourself have to pay for continuusly. A VPN Server from hetzner for example costs like 30€ a month, so in order for it to be lifelong, meaning like 80 Years, you`d have to pay 28.800€. And I say that with only 1 active Server.
So if you only pay like 300€ or less once for lifetime, you`d still have to rely on people paying the subscription in order to subcidize the cost of the people who paid only once.
But since people who use it regularly will buy a lifetime license, you always need a steady stream of New users to subsidize the old ones
^ /\ / \ / \ / \ / \ /oldest users\ ----------------------- / \ / \ / Newer users \ / Switching to \ / Lifetime \ ------------------------------------------ / \ / \ / Newest users paying for losses \ / From Lifetime licenses \::