It used to be that the "full price" for the Office suite was somewhere around $500...though as a student I only ever paid about $120. In the new pricing model, however, it runs as a subscription service of around $10 per month...or, in the event you're a student or a teacher, the entire suite is free. A product Microsoft used to charge hundreds of dollars for is now a free download provided you have the right type of email address. Pretty amazing if you were to look back a decade.
All of this really goes to reflect the change in commerce especially when it comes to software and content. People now expect these "basic" services like Office productivity to be provided gratis, leaving money to be made through subscriptions, ads, and clicks. While I'm certainly a fan as a consumer, I'm curious how this will affect the overall quality going forward. When you're giving away something like this for free, there's always a catch at some point or another.