if the upgrade price were available for a new platform, I'd pay it and continue to purchase upgrades. I'd also continue to recommend it to others. For the difference between an upgrade and a new license fee, none of that is likely to happen
I understand how you feel, to some degree. Software pricing has gone through something of a revolution of late. I, for one, am very glad that JRiver has NOT moved to a Adobe-esque rental-only style licensing model.
However, I am confused about this:
Almost every software these days either gives you a "2 machines, any platform" license or at least provides a cross-platform "deal" when migrating.
For example, Adobe Lightroom lets you run Lightroom on 2 machines (or is it 5 now?), any platform. And with Photoshop, if you want to move from Windows > Mac, you pay a one-time $9.99 license transfer fee.
That is certainly
one example of a cross-platform license, but even that is a change from their original setup (Lightroom only changed to a cross-platform license relatively recently). And, I don't dispute that some software has moved to a cross-platform licensing model. But that's still all new, and there are tons of counter examples.
Just a few off of the top of my head:
* Microsoft Office (unless you rent it through Office 365)
* Symantec Endpoint Protection
* Goodsync
* 1Password
* Camtasia Studio
* Adobe Acrobat (boxed versions)
So... While more companies are doing cross platform licenses, not all are, and even those who do, it depends on their business model and how the application was developed whether it is "counted". I wouldn't say either method is that unusual.
I don't work for JRiver and can't speak for them, but I think Jim explained their reasoning well. Right now, at least, they fall on the side of "it is a different application developed separately and needs its own license."
I get the hesitation, though JRiver historically has very
good upgrade pricing (they almost always have a substantial discount at the beginning of the development cycle for upgrade pricing, so it usually works out to be chump change). And, once you buy, you are allowed to use it on as many computers (of a particular platform) as you own (so if you have a Laptop and a Desktop, you can use it on both). All of those applications I listed above are not only licensed per-platform, but they're licensed per-install within a particular platform. This "high" price only really applies to the
initial purchase, and only applies if you switch platforms or use both.
I don't find it that unreasonable. Would it be
nicer for us (as users) if it was cheaper to switch? Sure, maybe, but the software is cheap for what it does even at full-price $50 to me, so... Meh.
