Stop the Subscription Madness

I have been very disheartened by the publishers of iPod Touch and iPhone medical software in the trend to only offer titles as subscriptions. This can only be described as a money grab. I can understand if titles were sold as having limited-time updates but some publishers want to cut off access to the title at the end of the subscription. It is perfectly understandable for titles such as drug guides to need frequent updates. Most healthcare software such as dictionaries do not change enough to limit user access.

I would like to know why these reference titles are considered different from a printed version of the same guide. If I buy a print dictionary it continues to work for as long as I own it. Reference software needs to continue to function.

I have been recommending educators and end users not buy subscription-only software. If you need the title you should not buy the title unless you are assured it will continue to function past the subscription date.

I spoke to Apple about this development. They are very opposed to it as they believe software should be owned, not rented. I agree. As healthcare users of the iPod Touch and iPhone we need to be letting the publishers know we will not be buying any milk from their cash cow.