This has been a good discussion. I agree with both “sides” here - the need to charge appropriately for ongoing work on the program, and also the “user” side of things where we are now facing a change in licensing model that impacts our use.
Like other users, I am in the “3 seats” category - a laptop, an office machine, and a home machine. Someone on the forum said “if you can afford 3 macs you can surely afford an extra seat.” Maybe, but all my macs were bought used and are NOT the latest generation fancy $4,000 iMacs. (Max I’ve paid for a mac in the last 5 years is $1,200 because Apple has not provided the value proposition for buying their new machines).
But it’s not really about the pricing. I find myself annoyed and presently unwilling to upgrade to DT3 because this appears to be punitive for people like me who have three installs rather than two. It is an arbitrary distinction between one user on two computers and one user on three computers. And it is a change from the more generous, previous situation.
Apple got this right (they don’t always get things right) - they recognize that people may have more than one machine - and allow for up to 5 machines.
The other thing that compounds the “annoyingness” of it is that we get 2 seats for $99 as an upgrade, then another is $99. So the third seat is twice the cost of the first two.
Most businesses (like mine) realize that people typically expect quantity discounts not quantity penalties like what you’re doing here. Why penalize your most dedicated users at twice the cost-per-seat for a third seat or beyond? Why not instead help them feel rewarded by, e.g. providing additional seats for $49 or even $45 (if you must charge for seats beyond 2)?
In the end, what happens in a business in terms of economic well-being is all about perception of the customer. While you have some ardent fans who’ve posted here and will pay whatever you ask for, I suspect there’s a silent majority like me who will be more reluctant and who will get a bit of bad taste from the way you’ve structured this.
It is of course up to you what you do with your business, but I would like Devonthink to continue successfully, and I’d like to feel rewarded for being a customer since the early 2000’s (of multiple licenses), rather than penalized.