At 22 I purchased a life membership of An Óige the Irish Youth Hostel Association.  Even then I realised that it represented a fairly good bet. Many years later I am still a member even if I no longer qualify on the “youth” side of things all of the facilities and benefits are still open to me.

Perpetual software licenses are similar giving a lifetime entitlement to use the software. However the days of the perpetual licence are numbered. More and more computer software companies are switching to an annual license model. This does have the benefit of always working with the latest operating systems but long term tends to cost more.

You can no longer buy a life membership for An Óige so if you want a lifetime license for you software the writing is on the wall -Act Now!

Some of the software companies that still offer perpetual or  lifetime licenses are

• Crick ( Clicker 7 &Docs Plus) ;
• Wordshark ( Wordshark  & Numbershark);
• Inspiration  (Inspiration & Kidspiration )
• Englishtype (Englishtype Junior & Englishtype Senior )

There is a new online version of Wordshark coming towards the end of 2019 so there is every chance that the current version which is in use in most school will be withdrawn.