“As you know, when you buy an app, you don’t actually own it. You own the license to use it for as long as you like. And that can be a pretty long time, although new computers and new operating systems may make it impossible to use,” Gene Steinberg writes for The Tech Night owl. “So if you have Word 5.1a, released in 1992, which some consider to be the absolute best version of Microsoft’s word processor ever, don’t expect to have it work on your spanking new 2012 27-inch iMac.”
“In moving to OS X in 2001, Apple included a ‘Classic’ environment that allowed you to run all those old apps in a separate window. There were some limitations that wouldn’t apply to Word, though Classic itself disappeared by 2006 with the advent of Intel-based Macs,” Steinberg writes. “The main point, however, is that, without having to have an old Mac serving standby duty, you were able to use Word 5.1 on a reasonably current Mac for approximately 14 years. Nobody from Microsoft threatened to take your license away. It was yours to keep.”
Steinberg writes, “This week, Adobe announced that they will not deliver a direct successor to Creative Suite 6. There will be no Creative Suite 7. Instead, they are moving to Creative Cloud apps. What this means is that, beginning in June, you’ll be able to download the newest versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro and all the rest for monthly fees. For the first year, users of Creative Suite 3 or later will be eligible for discounted monthly fees for the new Creative Cloud suite, beginning at $29.99 per month; students pay $19.99 per month. The fees will go up next year to $50 per month for a regular user (which means $600 per year). But if you miss a payment, prepare to lose access to your software… Has Adobe considered possible lost business as a result?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Since we got PixelMator, we just haven’t missed Photoshop – the only Adobe software we were using with any regularity, so Adobe’s death wish doesn’t phase us. Now, if this were Apple, we’d be screaming bloody murder, so we can understand why Adobe CS users are having some issues with this news. Are you an Adobe CS user? What do you think? If Adobe stick to their plan, will you be a CS user this time next year?
Related article:
Adobe goes subscription-only, rebrands Creative Suite as Creative Cloud – May 6, 2013
Hello Aperture
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the possibility that this could push some pros over to Final Cut from Premiere Pro. Video pros care to weigh in?
OK -so let’s all slow down a little and take a look at what is happening, and see if we can discern why… and perhaps who gains, and who loses.
Adobe want us all to pony up monthly to have access to the new CC versions of their professional level creative software:
1) Heavy duty users who pay for this level of software and make money from using it and upgrade regularly every cycle (or at least every other one) won’t notice a cost change… in fact I suspect many bigger company bean counters will love this road as it makes their lives much easier… those heavily into the Adobe “ecosystem” will not, don’t want to, or cannot change paths anyway – they are too heavily entrenched and committed. And subscriptions (at current advertised rates) really make no difference to them. All they care about is their workflows stay uninterrupted.
2) Mid level users who make a fair amount of use of a limited set of Adobe products and make money from it may waver… and for now have the option to hold on to what they have, or grab the last CS6 “perpetual” to see them through the next few years and see what happens. If they can hold out for two years they should be able to see which way the wind is blowing and take a decision then – although I would advise considering options and damage limitation strategies now.
3) Casual users who occasionally use one or two products for financial gain could access any product they like on a pay to use basis… and that could save them considerably in the long run (at the currently advertised rates). But if your use is casual or intermittent perhaps you should be considering alternatives and how to futureproof legacy files now.
4) Home users, charities, hobbyists and any one else who uses Adobe stuff “not for personal gain” just got screwed over right royally… Adobe doesn’t want you folks, so pack your bags and get out of (Adobe’s) town… You were “probably all using old or pirate copies anyway” … you don’t spend enough money to matter to us so just leave quietly OK? I would be planning what alternatives I want to move to and how to protect access to my legacy files right now…
5) Adobe see a way to get all their subscribers in a headlock… pay up or lose out! People are saying what a selection of great deals they see and how that can save them money managed correctly – yes, for now that is true… and in two years when you are all locked in up to the eyeballs and Adobe decide the subscriber numbers are not so great and they announce subscription increases of 200% or 300%? Then what? Remember you could stand to lose access to years and years of your files… As I see it the only real winners in this deal are Adobe… they can shunt you whatever rubbish they like and you still got to pay up if you want to use your old files – unless you plan an exit strategy, and start doing it now
I totally feel betrayed by Adobe… I have been a loyal client since 1988, and have championed their software for years – and now they basically want to hold me to ransom and sodomise me if I don’t pay the “protection money”
I guess Adobe are hoping the big boys and those who can’t/won’t/don’t want to give up their Adobe workflows will carry the tide and we will all just get used to it… Yes for now we can hang on to our last “perpetual licence” version, until hardware or software updates break it – but that is not a long term solution. Adobe are currently king of the hill and seem to have learned nothing from Quark (from whom they stole the crown because the fat, lazy, greedy, complacent king fell asleep on the throne atop the hill…)
Only time will tell how this model will pan out for users and Adobe – in five years from now EITHER most pro software will be sold by subscription as SaS (Software as Service) following their lead, or the backlash will bite Adobe really hard and people will start dropping them in favour of alternatives that allow “owning” the software… I think Adobe are betting the farm on industrial inertia and their “king of the hill” position to swing the day for them… But I am pretty sure they are going to find themselves taking a hit in the consumer/hobbyist/casual market – and they could end up the preserve of the professional user only, and if that happens it may burn their fingers a hell of a lot more than they expect. If you stop being a de facto standard you become “just another app”. In some ways I would not mind seeing Adobe paint themselves into a “Professionals Only” corner – not in an elitist “I use Adobe” manner but in a “you tried to shaft the average users… and instead they gave you a bloody nose” way.
If you are a hobbyist/charity/consumer user I am pretty sure Adobe just screwed you over big time – and I suspect some lesser known app makers are rubbing their hands in glee – if I was the owner of Pixelmator/Acorn/Photoline or any one of a hundred other PS substitutes I would be jumping for joy right now! Same for apps that can take over from some of their other creation tools – I think I would be thanking Adobe for their kind gift of hundreds of potential new users in the next few years! Maybe that is a “GOOD THING (TM)” – perhaps it’s time their “de facto standard” stranglehold got taken down. I am sure the big boys aren’t going to shift away – but in my sector I already support pretty much every app available on Mac/Win (and to some extent Linux) that can turn out something someone wants printed… I can see that becoming an ever increasing slice of my work now – perhaps at least it will stop people doing “DTP” in PS ;D… But even so, I will no longer be recommending Adobe Apps to anyone – I have always given anyone who asks me a slew of options from the no cost/low cost all the way up to the CS… But if you are not someone actually making money out of using it Adobe just painted themselves out of the picture for the majority of my clients.
For me (personally) the biggest problem is probably In Design… I have always hated Xpress even when it was the “best tool available” (probably the time between PageMaker 5 and In Design 2.0) and In Design isn’t an easy tool to replace… PS alternatives are 10 to the penny – ranging from near toys to actually pretty good analogues. Ai alternatives are harder to find, but it is doable in my line of work, there will be some pain if I decide to shift, but probably not unbearable pain – for those who rely on Ai features I rarely (if ever) use perhaps that may be more of an issue. But In Design… now that is going to be hard to handle… of course I have the option of PDF to help me take old files elsewhere (as long as I can keep ID CS6 running to open and PDF legacy files) but where to find a real page layout package that supports the sorts of features In Design does? (and BTW and FWIW I am a DTP tool lover… I download and experiment with pretty much any DTP/Page Layout I can find – time to start testing some of them in real anger I suspect). Also FWIW I work in jobbing/commercial print, so I admit the most fancy and funky features of modern software are nice… but not always essential to me. We are not a “cutting edge” design studio… However the pro prepress tools I use inside Acrobat would be a massive loss… perhaps not an insurmountable one but definitely a huge PITA – And WTF will I do about a replacement for PitStop Pro????
To conclude – I am sure my company will hang on to CS 6 for as long as it can, perhaps we may even subscribe one seat to CC for a bit to see how it goes. I will be against this in principle, but in practice I suspect it may be both a necessity and outside of my remit to decide on.. though I will be having talks with the management about options and damage limitation strategy. I really do think we all need to consider how much we can leverage other options to lessen our professional reliance on one supplier… and one that has decided it can grab us by the balls and order us around at that!
As I have said.
This will be their undoing.
There is some merit. Would you pay $2 to use Photoshop for a week because that’s all you needed ?