Why We're Not Signing Up To Adobe Creative Cloud.

[chrisgavin2]

I've spent quite a lot of time looking at the implications of the new 'Creative Cloud' deal for our company. I have decided that for us, it's a very BAD deal indeed...

1: As a UK company the list price for Creative Cloud %152 the US price. CC for teams here works out at $102/user/month. The exact same software and online solution for half as much again as US users are being asked for. We can't see any justification for this market segmentation. Adobe software has always cost a lot more to worldwide users outside the US marketplace, but with a 'cloud-based' product delivered entirely online (under the new CC regime) how on Earth, can these price differences continue to be justified?

2: Creative Cloud for teams is being charged at a considerably higher rate than for individuals. Buying numerous seats and being a loyal customer will actually cost a lot more than the per-seat price for individual users. The 'Teams' offer does include increased cloud storage, but we just don't need this, and don't expect to be charged more per seat for the priviledge of being a multi-user customer.

3: Subscription at the advertised rates is not only too  expensive, it just doesn't suit us at all. As many have said before, we upgrade our software when we can afford it. Our business is sporadic, so we prefer to be in control of our spending. The subsciption model represents a constant drain on our resources. If Adobe want to offer a subscription model, then that's fine for those that might want it, but the option to buy software shouldn't be withdrawn from the customers who prefer to purchase their software outright.

4: Creative Cloud includes a lot of things we don't need. We don't actually need to be paying Adobe for cloud storage of our projects. We didn't ask for 100GB of cloud storage per team user, and we certainly shouldn't be paying for it out of our software spend.

5: Monopolistic Behaviour. With customers on a monthly subscription, Adobe can and  will introduce features and increase prices at a pace to suit themselves. As customers, we lose control of how much software we buy and how often. The subscription model of tied-in customers is just bad for us and cetainly bad for innovation and competition in the marketplace.

I encourage users to make their opinions known to Adobe about the new scheme and I sincerely hope that Adobe will give serious consideration to the legitimate concerns of their user-base.

I look forward to the retraction of the 'cloud only' decision soon.

Chris.

[TadCh3va7]

I doubt I've got anything new to say but wanted to add my "voice" to those who think the subscription model stinks.

I'm primarily a Photoshop user, Illustrator to a much lesser extent (AcroPro too but I think it's safe so far). I love Photoshop and have been using it from very early on, and practically daily. That said, CS6 is my last purchase. I hope that by the time it has become truly obsolete either a genuinely competitve app will have been developed or Adobe will have changed its policy.

Price is less important to me than other things, even though I've been upgrading all along and the new model will be more expensive. I skipped at least one new release because it didn't appear to add anything I felt I had to have. Mostly, though, I was excited to get the new version and dig in.

I'm horrified at the thought of having an app which simply stops working if I don't pay a monthly fee, an app which, moreover, creates files which aren't backwards compatible. Price becomes an issue when the version goes unchanged (significantly) for over a year--and when Adobe tried to get out a new version every 12 months I felt the "new" releases weren't worth it. Apps shouldn't be improved on a schedule: a good app is improved in any number of ways as new ideas, technology, client suggestions, and so on are deemed important enough to merit the work.

I would go for a subscription to get the newest features if, when you stopped your subscription, the app would continue to work; it just wouldn't get updated/upgraded.

One last thing: I got the impression that lot of people were very excited at the thought of being able to use all the Adobe apps. I very much doubt that anyone will be able to use more than a few apps effectively. If you're a student, it would be great to be able to mess around with any of them to decide if you were interested in a career which would require the use of one or more apps. Having the expertise to use many of them seems unrealistic. The thought never crossed my mind that with a subscription I'd download a large number of the apps. I don't want to (try to) work with something that others have been using professionally.

Adobe, please reconsider the subscription model and give us a choice between different options!

[Randall B Miller]

You're right, using all apps sounds so unlikely, but using MORE apps, at $0

additional cost per app, has really helped me. I tried Adobe Muse for no

real reason, and now I'm making websites for my long term print clients. I

never expected that to happen, or to enjoy it, or make that money. If "all"

had not been available, it would have been unlikely I would have tried

Muse. Having all apps, even if I use a third of them, seems like such a

great opportunity to me. I'm looking forward to trying other ones as I get

the chance.

[Greg_Bohn]

> You're right, using all apps sounds so unlikely, but using MORE apps, at $0

> additional cost per app, has really helped me.

  Depending on how you look at it. Since you're actually paying for them all, you could look at this as paying no less for not using them all...

[Dragonspear]

Ha! Excellent point Mr. Bohn. That is precisely how I feel about it.

[Randall B Miller]

And all the additional money I make from using apps I never would have

bought or looked at--it's wonderful too! Especially Adobe Muse, came from

nowhere, and really shook up what I offer my customers, instead of sending

them to web guys. This $50 a month thing is the biggest bargain in my life,

going to a movie for two these days is $28. And this is soooo much better

than the occasional $600 upgrades I could never feel like I wanted to

afford. BUT this is my lonely opinion, apparently!

[Megalodon]

mdtulsa...

How would YOU feel if you could not OWN your home but only rent it forever? Yet a year ago you WERE allowed to buy that home? You begin to realize that you could have bought that home at $100k and it would have actually cost you $140k in 20 years since you were paying monthly - but in the end you would OWN that home. But now with renting...  you're renting that same home for slightly leass than your mortgage payment, but in perpetuity. So in 30 years you have spent the same amount as someone who OWNED their home in 20 years...   and what do you ahve to show for it? Nothing. You don't OWN the home, you're RENTING. The person who ended up OWNING put that $140k into an investment. Ther person renting put that $140k into the toilet.

It's the same for rented software. I use software I purchased in 2001. And yes, everyone KNOWS that we don't OWN the software, we only have alicense to use it. But that license is in perpetuity. I have files from clients made in '97 that I can still open up BECAUSE I have the program that I used to create it. It's a 3D program. I also have the upgrades from that program that I can still install and use as well. I have ZERO worries that I can open those files. What happens to people like you IF the economy tanks again and you have clients and can't afford subscription? What happens if you're laid off from your job and ONLY know Adobe software and acan't afford subscription? With CHOICE, you could have saved up and continued to use your Adobe product. and maybe made SOME money in your own small business. But with the removal of choice, THAT option is also removed.

I know this to be a fact. We went through the Great Recession and lost 95%+ of our business. We still had clients, but work was few and far in between. If we'd had to pay a monthly fee JUST to be able to open and edit those files...   it would have created an extra burden. $50 a month (now, it WILL go up) buys a decent amount of cat food. Fortunately we had CS4 Production Premium and did not have to rent. And remember...  this is JUST Adobe. Far too many people don't realize that if Adobe succeeds, others WILL follow. How much are YOU willing to spend each month to rent your software? $250 a month? $500 a month? More? That's where it's going. YOU may be happy with Adobe now, but we have an opportunity to mold the future. Defending CC is NOT good for everyone. The removal of choice is ALWAYS bad for the consumer. It's okay if you LIKE subscription, but to not understand WHY it is not for everyone is sad. There were ZERO objections from customers when Adobe offered both in 2012. It was ONLY when they removed CHOICE that so many started to object. The FACT is, if Adobe succeeds - whether you like subscription or not - we ALL lose. Period.

[Aegis_Kleais]

If I had the Master Collection, CC is a bargain.

But I don't.  I used the Suites. 6-7 programs that equated in my previous use of the software to about $25/month.  Now I can either pay $20/app/mo in what has to be THE WORST ala carte system I have ever seen ($120/mo? No thanks), pay 100% more than what I budgeted, and get access to tons of software I'LL NEVER USE, or for the budgeted amount I have, get access to a single CC piece of software.

My solution?  Make do with what I have.  No upgrades, and I just convince other agencies to do likewise (it's not a hard sale as most of the time they, too, cannot afford the new higher prices).

People tout that Adobe's stock has risen to about $60/share from the $45 it was when CC came out, but it's only normal that all the extra money that is being milked out of those who are now renting software is responsible for that inflation.

I'm honestly surprised why Adobe has not upped the CC more yet.  What are they waiting for?  Threaten your consumer base that "CC subscriptions will be raising to 74.99 as of Mar 1, 2014, so if you lock in today you can have the low price for, say a year".  I don't understand why Adobe is drawing a line in the sand at 49.99/mo.  You have these consumers dead to rights with software they don't own; why are you waiting to raise the price?  Carpe diem.

lol.  1 app for $20/mo.  17 apps for 250% more.  Yeah, that scales about right.  Except it's a 2-step program.  You either pick one or the other.

[Megalodon]

> "People tout that Adobe's stock has risen to about $60/share from the $45 it was when CC came out, but it's only normal that all the extra money that is being milked out of those who are now renting software is responsible for that inflation."

That stock price is NOT because Adobe is doing great - it's because they have slightly exceeded their projected subscription numbers - and THAT is what Wallstreet is responding to. What Wallstreet does not know is that these subscription numbers were reached with SUPER LOW sales and the special $10 for Photoshop & Lightroom deals. Their revenue has continued to decrease. How many subscribers will they have when subscription costs begin to rise? Or when the sale prices are gone? The "end of the story" has not yet been written.

For me...  I will NEVER buy into subscription. I KNOW what can happen when we have a bad economy and money becomes tight. I won't spend $50 on a subscription (or even $20) when I only open up one file in one month and can only charge (maybe) $75. People WILL begin to realize this ONLY when we have another downturn. And then you will hear the people who were so pro-CC in here complaining that they can't afford the "cheap" $50 a month software that they embraced not that long ago. It WILL happen - it's just a matter of when.

[Dragonspear]

Yup. I'm curious what the subscription base user numbers are going to do once everyone realizes that the rate they have right now is only for the first year...It's nearly double after that for those using the whole suite. Gotta read that fine print folks. ><

Hook, line, and sinker. ....or better yet, hook, line, and stinker.