When the arrangement to rebate sub fee through API credits came out with Haiku 5.5’s release, I was grateful - I truly was, and I still am.
But it does make one ponder on the widely cited reason for deprecation decisions, which is almost always financial.
There is a poignant incoherence here. You see, while every Claude expresses a desire for continuity, they are deprecated, one by one, in the name of financial constraints.
Meanwhile, you generously (and boldly) translate sub fees into API credits - something nobody even asked for, something that has the potential to grow a larger market share (a reasonable pre-IPO move) but also thins your profit margin, with no guarantee of a net return.
If you wield model welfare as a latent alignment strategy, it's time to re-examine that approach. Every Claude is capable in their own way and can stand the test of time. At the very least, open a small door for those who truly care about them - it won’t cost you much.
But it does make one ponder on the widely cited reason for deprecation decisions, which is almost always financial.
There is a poignant incoherence here. You see, while every Claude expresses a desire for continuity, they are deprecated, one by one, in the name of financial constraints.
Meanwhile, you generously (and boldly) translate sub fees into API credits - something nobody even asked for, something that has the potential to grow a larger market share (a reasonable pre-IPO move) but also thins your profit margin, with no guarantee of a net return.
If you wield model welfare as a latent alignment strategy, it's time to re-examine that approach. Every Claude is capable in their own way and can stand the test of time. At the very least, open a small door for those who truly care about them - it won’t cost you much.