Do you rent software on your mobile?

Deleet

#1 – 7:53 AM December 18, 2008

It used to be this way for some games on my old sprint phone thankfully tetris was a 1 time purchase...

TJ S

#2 – 8:00 AM December 18, 2008

The Garmin software on Helio is $2.99/day I think. Absolutely not worth it, when you've got Google maps there for free.

stumo

#3 – 8:11 AM December 18, 2008

Seems quite a good way of doing a 'try before you buy' - or equally for stuff you know you'll only use briefly (e.g. getting mapping software for a specific trip to another country).

zuzu

#4 – 8:16 AM December 18, 2008

DocumentsToGo costs $70 for the current version forever, for $50/year for what I presume includes possible major upgrades.

Renting software has a huge psychological barrier to me. I'd feel better about it if I knew I was paying for an "upgrade protection plan" than for continued use of the existing version. Maybe I'm suffering from a case of loss aversion.

crankypage

#5 – 9:13 AM December 18, 2008

Spanning Sync, a ical/gcal/WM6 sync tool, is available for rent ($25/year) or purchase ($65). Either way, too rich for my blood (and to read the online reviews, I'm not the only one who feels that way.)

Clif Marsiglio

#6 – 9:15 AM December 18, 2008

On my old cell phone, I bought a few games only to have them 'expire' after two months...I only played them once or twice on an airplane. Go to play a few months later trapped on a plane...and no go.

Worse, it really never mentioned this anywhere near the purchase...I'm certain it was in the fine print, but nothing that reached out and bit ya.

I really don't like the idea of expiring software...

Enochrewt

#7 – 12:19 PM December 18, 2008

Verizon does something similar, they had Oregon Trail (YES!) for $3.49/mo or $6.99 to purchase. I have misgivings about both options, since on one hand I might want to play Oregon Trail (WOO!) on a plane 6 months down the road and have already canceled the "rental" after a month. On the other hand buying the game doesn't seem to actually be buying it, due to it being locked to my current handset (I think), so when I upgrade phones it's gone anyway.

Much to Verizon's chagrin, I won't buy any games/software because of this quandary. Way to go, you soul sucking, money grubbing asshats.

Scuba SM

#8 – 12:27 PM December 18, 2008

Verizon also has a similar plan for their VZNavigator, which is another GPS program. I forget the precise price, but it was around $10 per day, with much higher costs for monthly and yearly subscriptions. I think you also had to pay for the data to the phone if you didn't have a data plan to update maps, etc. I decided the paper maps in my glove box were sufficient.

zuzu

#9 – 12:51 PM December 18, 2008

Verizon also has a similar plan for their VZNavigator, which is another GPS program. I forget the precise price, but it was around $10 per day, with much higher costs for monthly and yearly subscriptions.

I decided the paper maps in my glove box were sufficient.

Ronald Pottol

#10 – 9:58 AM December 19, 2008

I wish T-Mobile did that with sidekick apps, say a buck a day until you reach the purchase price. I'd have spent far more money if I was only spending a buck or two to try an app, rather than $7 and finding out I don't like it.