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Positive Practices
This page aims to provide an outline of what types of products to invest in, in hopes of avoiding the pains potentially experienced by companies enacting poor consumer behaviors. While the main goal of this wiki is to articulate all instances where this doesn't happen, this page assists as an escape that may benefit you (the reader) and the over-arching goal. The companies making anti-consumer decisions are primarily driven by the goal of capital and financial gain, so by re-allocating investments away from them to better options the incentive to enact those negative policies lessens.
Things to watch out for[edit | edit source]
One-Time Purchase vs. Subscription Plan[edit | edit source]
Subscription Plans are usually cost efficient in short-term, benefiting consumers who are unsure on a product and want to try it out. Many services exist exclusively under a subscription model and operate sensibly. One-Time Purchases are typically designed to operate cleanly and effectively for an ample amount of time.
Subscription Plan Considerations[edit | edit source]
- Does this service update frequently or at least within the purchased time-frame?
- How long will I be needing this service and will it be compatible with me for that amount of time?
One-Time Purchase Considerations[edit | edit source]
- Will I need this for more than a single month?
- How soon will this product become redundant or out-dated? Is it an annual subscription in disguise?
Digital Goods - Available Offline vs. Online Service[edit | edit source]
Services that run exclusively online innately have more control over how their product operates and is received. This control can lead to changes in the product that can be improved but also introduce incompatibilities. Digital Goods that are completely operational offline in general allow the consumer to decide how long those goods can be used. As long as the downloaded product can be stored and correctly rendered, it has no expiration.
Online Service Considerations[edit | edit source]
- Is this product made for online connectivity and interaction?
- Example: Online Social Games such as World of Warcraft
- Is this product more secure online?
- How likely am I to maintain an internet connection to this service?
- Can this service alter itself into an incompatible state? Can this service remove functionality that I need?
Available Offline[edit | edit source]
- Will I be able to effectively download and store this?
- Does it have any dependencies, and can those dependencies become redundant?
- Example: Products designed for a limited set of Operating Systems that may become outdated
