Gradually, then suddenly coming to the conclusion that the only way forward for Mimi Uploader is via a subscription model to support development and ongoing costs. And to offer that via various tiers to emulate a sliding scale for supporters.
It is tricky to make a subscription service or otherwise charge specifically for the AI image description feature even though it has ongoing cost. That’s because in many scenarios you don’t get the service you pay for, and it is out of my control. For example:
- This API is in preview. It may be turned off and never become a regular API.
- OpenAI currently rate limits the API use. Once several people are using this regularly, it is entirely possible to reach that limit.
- OpenAI’s service may be down.
So a subscription, if offered, is about supporting the app, which in turn supports this feature, and more in the future, in a best-effort way. It cannot be a guarantee of service.
How do you feel about that?