Cricut reverses subscription plan
So, we’ve made the decision to reverse our previously shared plans. Right now, every member can upload an unlimited number of images and patterns to Design Space for free, and we have no intention to change this policy. This is true whether you’re a current Cricut member or are thinking about joining the Cricut family before or after December 31, 2021.
Source: Dear Cricut Community, From Ashish Arora CEO – Cricut
People get upset when they buy something and then find out that they don’t really own it. Keurig face the same backlash back in 2014 with the release of the Keurig 2.0 system. Machines with 2.0 would only accept official licensed K-Cups. No longer could you use a generic cup or, the horror, using your own coffee in a reusable cup. Heaven forbid we want to use our own coffee in an environmentally thoughtful way! The backlash was swift, with several different ways devised to beat the lock out. Keurig eventually reversed course, well, at least with the reusable cup.
Farmers have been having the same issues with their tractors. Sure, you can buy the part, but a technician has to come out and “allow” the tractor to work with the part. It has to have gotten pretty bad when farmers have hacked their tractors with Ukrainian firmware. There is even a Github project now to help you hack your John Deere.
That brings us back to Cricut. What made them change their mind? I don’t know. Maybe it had to do with a team of determine developers? I do have a strong inclination why they proposed the change in the first place. The company is getting ready to go public, and if they can show a consistent revenue stream, that will help their stock price. It was a no brainer to require a subscription service, but to make it retroactive to machines people have already bought was too much.
What do you own?
We are entering a future where we don’t own, we rent. Music and movies came first, but now we have coffee makers and tractors. Is this a good future? I would say the companies have to persuade us that the subscription is the right way to go for a product. For a cutter where I provide the materials it’s a tougher sell. However, they could drop the price of the cutter and make the online subscription service enticing with good designs, graphics, and fonts.
