First of all I'm not a fan of the subscription model for software and as my trip last week is evidence being in a spot with spotty or nonexistent internet means no access to HealthyDrones. I would much prefer an installed software solution and perhaps data sharing via Dropbox etc.
There's a reason developers are pushing the cloud model as it gives them full access to your data for data mining -- you did notice they're serving up ads on HealthyDrones did you not? Knowing where you are because they have you lat/lon data from the flight data means they can serve you location specific ads and do so for a profit.
If this were a program you bought and installed on you PC/MAC how much would you pay for it -- $25, $50, $100? Even at $100 which would be beyond ridiculous the 5-year cost would be $1.67/month whereas the 5-year cost for there HD360Pro plan would be ... wait for it ... $899.40. And, given they are making money serving ads the cost differential is out-a-sight.
Additionally, he's created too many plans and many will start with the free plan, then upgrade to the $2.99/month plan when they go past 50 flights, then either upgrade to the $6.99/month plan when they hit 200 flights or they decide it's not worth paying over $419 for 5 years. The better approach and the one that would almost certainly provide him more money would be a two tier schedule with free for 50 flights and then a $3.99/month plan for unlimited flights with full data and metrics.
With something over a million drone users in the USA and likely several times that world wide he'd be better off taking a page out of Jeff Bezos playbook and be the low cost solution that keeps others out of the game by keeping costs down. Sadly, his pricing model is dramatically slowing the market and others that might be tempted to get into the game may see the relatively low subscription numbers and conclude the market isn't there. He's screwing the game both sides from Sunday...
Brian
I get what you're saying.... it's all very succinct and well thought-out.
I think, for me, the idea that the entire drone market -- or even 5% of it-- wants this product, is where the error lies. As I said before, I myself would only think to use this if I had a catastrophic problem with my drone -- which I haven't so far (crossed-fingers).
@The Editor himself -- one of the more experienced users here -- has used it exactly
zero times. I suspect that most people that pay at all are not subscribing beyond the month they need it -- why would they? If I had a mysterious flyaway and catastrophic crash I'd be happy to pay $15 to get the most complete info I could... but why would I pay again the following month?
I'm guessing that people wouldn't subscribe for more than a month or two. It makes no sense to do otherwise. The info is really pointless unless your drone is acting up. You are right that over a long time, the subscription model looks insane -- but I have serious doubts that anyone would keep a subscription going. I think if he was smart, he might change the model from subscription to pay-per-use. Undoubtedly he'd get complaints about that too.
I too prefer installed software. I
own Lightroom -- I'll never subscribe to Adobe CC. I use Affinity Designer and Photo. Great software, no cloud.
In any case, it's his software, and his to do with as he pleases. If the market has room for another developer with a better plan (and hopefully a nicer interface), surely they will materialize. Business is not a democracy, it is an empire.