Hmm, in my Chrome browser it takes me to this previous post:
"...You might check out my Any Source plugin. It provides 'back' and 'forward' commands that keep a history of previous sources, selections, and filter settings, so you can easily switch back and forth between them."
As you can see from the posts above, users have been asking for this seemingly-simple feature for 8 years now, so it seems unlikely that Adobe will ever implement it. I suppose that this is one consequence of subscription-model lock-in where the product revenue stream is largely decoupled from customer service---at least until a viable competitor emerges.
"I suppose that this is one consequence of subscription-model lock-in where the product revenue stream is largely decoupled from customer service---at least until a viable competitor emerges."
I think it's the lack of viable competitors that's key. If there were a viable competitor that also had subscription pricing, many customers would still switch.
Actually, with a non-subscription model, I suspect a large chunk of the user base would decline to upgrade unless they got useful features. That would put pressure on Adobe. As it is, we effectively pay the upgrade fee every year or so whether they deliver features or not. This is particularly convenient for Adobe now that Lightroom is a fairly mature product. In the early years there were truly exciting and useful features with every release (even "point" releases). Not so much now. This situation will probably worsen as the shift to smartphones and the cloud continues. Lightroom Classic will probably become dormant in a few years (but not to our bank accounts).
I agree that subscription licensing reduces the incentive for Adobe to improve LR Classic, as compared to perpetual licensing. But if there were serious competitors, even with subscription licensing, Adobe couldn't afford to sit on its haunches.
Of course I agree that both factors play a role. Didn't mean to imply otherwise. Note that unlike other products (e.g. insulin), demand for Lightroom is somewhat elastic. Monopoly status doesn't mean that people will have to buy your product, particularly once they have an old version that works quite well. Adobe probably couldn't survive in a mode where people only buy the product once (as with, say, a gravesite!).
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