Are Adobe in touch with amateur photographers?

What you have posted is one camera club member who is responsible for programs writing something to work up interest in the next meeting. That individual may be the only one with an axe to grind.

You have not shown any evidence that 75% of club members who are apparently happy with Adobe (with the possible exception of LR6 users) might feel that Adobe has lost touch with amateurs. In fact, your statistics show just the opposite.

I know some Mac users who tested the Luminar beta product and who came back to Lightroom. I’ve not used it personally but have seen it used in conjunction with Lightroom in a similar way to applying filters in Photoshop using the Nik plug-in. I believe a Windows version may be available but is there a Library file management system yet? A guy named Scott Weaver made an interesting observation on the fstoppers blog:

“I have wondered about the lens profiles that are a very important part of my LR workflow. That is one of the first settings I go to when beginning to edit an assignment. It's taken Adobe years to test and profile thousands of lenses professionals and general users employ. Has Macphun addressed this important part of image editing? Can't believe they have the resources to match what Adobe has done.”

The sale of Nik Collection by Google to DxO looks interesting and I hope DxO will continue the free apps for a while, as well as investing in future development and enhancements. This looks likely and will be based on the newly re-branded DxO PhotoLab, directly incorporating Nik’s U-Point technology. Again this is an app that integrates with Lightroom and the DNG format. I really like their NR tools but they are more time consuming than using NR in LR and always lacked a rendered 1:1 preview, unless this has changed?

It will be interesting to hear the views of your members after your presentation.

It seems that over the last decade more and more users have almost demanded or at least expected that Lightroom enable them to have everything available in the cloud. Many users came to Lightroom expecting that that was the case. The catalog was confusing to them, they simply didn't want to bother with it. So now, Adobe are offering an alternative. For those who understand the catalog system and the folder system and want to continue using Lightroom as it has been, there is Lightroom Classic CC. For those who want everything in the cloud, accessible on all devices, no catalog, much simpler, now there is the new Lightroom CC. It's your choice. Both programs are still being completely supported by Adobe and will be continually updated. So please explain what your concern is.

cb4-uk  wrote and their current strategy of alienating amateur photographers seems a rather strange one.

I was intrigued by that statement, especially as I'm also a UK amateur/hobby photographer who doesn't feel in any way alienated by Adobe's current strategy (quite the contrary, in fact). Now if you simply mean that the end of the perpetual license is what's making you feel "alienated", that's fair enough....but's that's an issue facing some photographers of all types, not just amateurs. So I'm curious to know what you think Adobe is doing (or has done) to make amateurs specifically feel alienated?

Not trying to start an argument, I'm just genuinely interested.

There is a growing feeling that Adobe has lost touch with the amateur photography community, and members find the recent changes very disquieting.

Need to know more about why the members in your club feel like this. Does it boil down to resistance to change?

Breaking it down:

1. Adobe has done away with perpetual licensing for Lightroom - is that where the murmuring is coming from? But you've already said most members have a subscription so they're running Lightroom CC.
2. Lightroom Classic CC is giving existing Cloud members what they've always been used to: progressively enhanced Lightroom CC with a new name. So amateur photographers have still got what they are already used to.
3. Lightroom CC: a poorly-named work in progress from Adobe. No obligation for anyone to take part but it's really aimed at amateurs. Might be a better solution for many. Might not go anywhere. Watch this space.

Lr Classic has the new color and luminosity range masking tools and improved auto mask which I really love. Speed improvements have been made, notably on import and scrolling and the Adobe Engineers are still concentrating on performance as well as new features.

Here is a quote from Adobe’s Product Director, Tom Hogarty:

“We’re not phasing out Lightroom Classic and remain committed to investing in Lightroom Classic in the future. We know that for many of you, Lightroom Classic, is a tool you know and love and so it has an exciting roadmap of improvements well into the future. But please hold us accountable as we make updates in the following months and years to let us know if we’re meeting your expectations.”

It is interesting the introductory post seems to be saying "we're angry, you better watch out" without saying anything about what the anger is about.

Photoshop is the goose.  Lightroom might be a pigeon.  Adobe is at least in part worried that the desktop platform is going away, hence Lightroom CC (which is still getting features added it seems).