zlacker

I'm not convinced. The moment software could be released half baked, then patched later, the door for subscription pricing was open. Then the browser growing into an application platform moved things onto the server where it was easier to update things.

FOSS may have accelerated things slightly, yet the mediocre quality and incompleteness held back its impact for a long time. Server side those deficiencies were less visible and could be addressed more gradually. Ultimately I think SAAS was inevitable as everything shifted online. Now even single-player, closed source games require an Internet connection.