I get what you're saying, but you'd probably also complain about the higher price of buying software on a perpetual license outright. Just look at the prices of charting software on a Mac or PC ($300-500) vs. your mobile OS ($15-75 per year). They let you download the program free but charge you to make it fully functional with detailed charts/updates. Yes the government charts are free but they may have to license other charts and have to monetize their software and business overhead one way or another.

Every business is seeking monthly recurring revenue, and it's a fact that people will more easily shell out $ in small recurring payments than they would for large investments.

Gen-x doesn't own cars (unless they're collectors or enthusiasts) or homes; or music or videos or software, which they license as a service online using cloud services.

Edit- yes there's OpenCPN but that's an exception.