Adobe's New Subscription Policy On Software

[JustKate]

They're working to become more profitable. Nothing wrong with that. That's what I should hope we are all trying to do. It seems to me that what they are actually trying to do (Eric) is narrow their market share to only include the segment of larger companies who were already upgrading frequently. Many of the one-person shops and hobbyists who were barely able to scrape up enough cash to buy an upgrade once every 3-5 years will soon be gone from their market. I don't know how many that is, but judging from all the chatter I've seen about it on Facebook, Twitter, all the tech and design blogs... seems to be quite a few.

And as for piracy prevention, the company itself says that was not a major consideration.

But it's a free market, and if that's what they want to do, they can do whatever they think is best for them. I can easily see how this benefits Adobe... it will probably cut their support caseload to a fraction of its current volume, by being able to offer a hosted (cloud-based) application that they can maintain, and by reducing their clientele to only their highest-performing customers. Many of those big shops have their own in-house support, whereas the small or one-person shops tend to rely on Adobe for most or all their support. In other words, they're culling out customers who are low-income/high-maintenance and improving things for the customers who are high-income/low-maintenance. Add that to the elimination of their distribution channels and all the headaches and expenses that go with them, and it seems like a panacea from their perspective.

It's a little sad that us one-person shops have to end up as collateral damage to their "improvements", but we as consumers have choices as well. I've been preparing for this possibility for years, and I will be joining the migration away from Adobe. On the bright side, this may give a little more momentum to the other products out there serving the same markets.

Edited May 15, 2013 by JustKate

[cem]

I guess I'm in the minority here... I personally LOVE the subscription option!!! My company bought our 3-person design team our own subscriptions, so for $50/mo, I get access to the latest and greatest toys from Adobe - and I regularly use Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Acrobat. And since each subscription allows for the installation on two computers, I can install the suite on my home computer so I can work from home if/when I need to.

It's funny everyone sees it as a money grabbing opportunity. I see it as a way to cut down on piracy and broaden their market share.

Hee hee of course it's great for you, your not paying for it if I didn't have to pay for mine I would probably like it to. Two installs have always been available for Adobe products I've run a main computer and a laptop for many years. Your employers may like it when it's $50 a month but that is likely to change when the price starts creeping up.

Sorry this won't stop piracy one bit Adobe Muse is a subscription only program and is already readily available on the net the hacker kiddies will see it as a challenge not a deterrent and If you read through Adobes analysis reports on the move you will see it's purely a cash grab to appease the stockholders. Yes they are entitled to make money every business has that goal it's just the way they go about it that riles a lot of users up.

In Australia they really have messed users around with how edu licenses could be used compared to the rest of the world to the doubling of pricing and looking like they are finally giving us a fair go after the government stepped in only to have them come back with this subscription only option.

Also why isn't the price the same across the world and why are some countries individuals restricted to the the team only option purely on this it looks like they are gouging customers.

The main thing though if this model works you can bet other software business's will look to it as well do you really want to eventually rent every program you use on your computer including your operating system. This cartoon I thought was pretty funny http://whattheduck.com/home?page=0%2C4

For anyone looking at alternatives there is a pretty good list on the cgtalk forum, their site is having problems at the moment so I will link to it once it's working properly again.

[particle]

To reiterate, it's my company that purchased the subscription, so the price didn't affect me personally. However, I would have been happy to pay the monthly fee on an as-needed basis for my personal use, should the need have arisen (and that's exactly what I was preparing to do, once I bought or built my new home computer). Since I've never owned a copy, a minimal monthly payment was much more appealing than forking out the previous $750 initial purchase price for a legit copy. It would have taken right at 3 years of $20/mo payments (for the Photoshop only subscription) to recoup that expense. Maybe for people that only need/use one Adobe product, purchasing an actual copy might make more sense (provided you don't plan on upgrading before 3 years). But for those that need other Adobe tools, the subscription just makes all kinds of sense to me.

[cem]

Yep I agree on the face of it for those starting from scratch from no previously owned license it seems like a good option but in the future that option might not seem so rosy when the cost rises a lot they definitely won't keep it at $50 a month indefinitely once everyone is locked in.

People would of been a lot happier if they had been left a choice those who like the subscription can use it and those who like the perpetual licenses can buy them from what I've read and the other designers I've spoken to this is what the main problem is.

Cgtalk is still playing up but I was able to get most of the list for those looking for alternatives, full credit to Robert Ortez and those at cgtalk for putting it together.

After Effects:

• Hitfilm

(Windows, Mac version on the way)

$399.00

http://hitfilm.com/

• Fusion

http://www.eyeonline.com/

• Nuke

http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/

• Blender

http://www.blender.org/education-he...ls/compositing/

• Apple Motion

https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/motion/

InDesign:

Scribus

(Linux/UNIX, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4, eComStation, Haiku and Windows)

http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus

Open Source

Serif PagePlus Starter Edition

(Windows)

http://www.serif.com/desktop-publishing-software/'>http://www.serif.com/desktop-publishing-software/

iStudioPublisher

(Mac)

$17.99

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ist...430820689?mt=12

Swiftpublisher (Mac)

$19.99

http://www.belightsoft.com/products...er/overview.php

Premiere:

• Grass Valley EDIUS Pro 6.5

(Windows 7-8,)

USD 699.00

http://www.grassvalley.com/products/edius_pro_6.5

• Sony Vegas

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegassoftware

• Final Cut

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/all-features/

• Avid

http://www.avid.com/US/

• Lightworks

http://www.lwks.com/

• Smoke

http://www.autodesk.com/products/smoke/overview

Movie Plus

http://www.serif.com/

Photoshop:

• Gimp

photoPlus

http://www.serif.com/://www.gimp.org/

•Photoline

http://www.pl32.com/

• Paintshop Pro (I still use PSP 7...Great little program)

http://www.corel.com/corel/product/...languageCode=en

• Corel Draw

http://www.corel.com/corel/pages/in...languageCode=en

• Krita

http://www.calligra.org/news/calligra-2-6-2-released/

• DogWaffle

http://www.thebest3d.com/pda/index8.html

• Acorn 4 -

http://www.flyingmeat.com/acorn/

• Pixelmator 2.1-

http://www.pixelmator.com/

•Seashore-

http://seashore.sourceforge.net/The...ject/About.html

•Manga Studio 5

http://manga.smithmicro.com/index.html

Illustrator:

DrawPlus

http://www.serif.com/

• CorelDRAW® X6

http://www.corel.com/corel/product/...rkid=NASEMGglGR

• Inkscape

http://inkscape.org/

• Xara

http://www.xara.com/us/

Flash:

• ToonBoom (fantastic program)

http://beta.toonboom.com/home-users/toon-boom-studio

• Unity

http://unity3d.com/

• AnimeStudio

http://anime.smithmicro.com/

• Crazy Talk Animator

http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/animator/

LightRoom:

• Darktable

http://www.darktable.org/

• Corel AfterShoot Pro:

http://www.corel.com/corel/product/...languageCode=en

• DXO:

http://www.dxo.com/uk/photo

• Capture One Pro 7:

http://www.phaseone.com/en/Download...-One-Pro-7.aspx

So plenty of options now for those who want a choice of how they spend their money.

Edited May 15, 2013 by cem

[JustKate]

Thanks for the list, cem. I've worked with some you've included, but I see others that look worth looking at.

Also, another Photoshop alternative that I don't see listed there is Paint.net.

[veedub3]

Thanks for posting the list. I will definitely have to take a look and maybe give them a test drive.

Karina

[Cyberthrasher]

Another aspect that I haven't had a whole lot of time to look into. When I look at the subscription prices, it says "annual commitment, billed monthly". So, that means you can't say "well, I only need Photoshop/Illustrator this month, so it's only $50 and I have access to everything." You actually have to pay $600 for the year in order to use it once. But, I did just notice that they're offering "Single" programs for $20 a month with limited support and access.

I whole-heartedly agree with Kate's analysis of the situation. Especially as someone who deals with IT support for a living, I can see their concerns with streamlining their cost in relation to man-hours required for support. But, I've never personally used the products anyway, so this is just more reason for me to promote Open Source for the home/small user