I received an email yesterday that Evernote has ‘updated’ its pricing tiers. The key change for me will be that free accounts are now limited to two devices—a change which severely hampers its usefulness. A phone and a computer is already two devices. You have to pay if you want to add a second computer (say, a home and a work) or a tablet. Or, you can opt to use the clunky web-only version.

I admit, I am fatigued by this push toward subscription apps. I understand they need to make money, but I miss the days where you could pay once and have something. I simply can’t afford anymore. I pay for Dropbox because I keep my iTunes library, which is for the most part, populated with French music I use for my teaching, there. And also because in this era of tiny hard drives, one is intended to use the Cloud to shuffle books, music—well, content—back and forth. And I pay for Kindle Unlimited. And Netflix. And Major League Baseball. And satellite radio. I just can’t pay anymore.

I appreciate that Evernote needs to make money. They have to charge for something. And clearly, the something they were charging for before was not worthwhile enough to get enough people paying for it. So, will this change make people pay? Or will it drive them to OneNote or Google Drive instead?

The bottom line for me is that I need to prioritize. I am tapped out. I pay for my media already—the music, the Netflix, the books. I can’t afford to pay a second time for the programs I use to consume them. With all due apology to Evernote, there are alternatives to them which remain free so I am going to have to jump ship. I need access to my stuff on all my devices. I can’t be hampered to using only two. And since there are others who will let me enjoy this access for free—indeed, my tiny netbook came with OneNote pre-installed—I’m going to make the switch. You got here too late, Evernote. I pay enough already. I’m done paying!