Boycott Creative Cloud?

[Mike Wickham]

If you haven't heard, CS6 is the last CS version. From now on, you have to rent your applications via the Creative Cloud. I don't like the new subscription model. I have bought every CS upgrade since version 1, but it looks like CS6 is the end for me, even if it means keeping an old computer around just to run CS6 applications.

Perhaps Adobe would change its mind in a few months if most everyone avoided signing up for the subscription. In any case, they've created a real opportunity for competitors.

[Noel Carboni]

Wow, you Mac folks really expect incompatibility in a helluva hurry.  Apple must follow a terrible policy of obsolescence to have you so sure things won't work!

People on PCs are told old versions of Photoshop are incompatible, but they actually do work.  Photoshop 6.0 still runs fine here on WIndows 8.

But don't worry, Microsoft is trying to be more Apple-like.  And Apple is trying to be more Microsoft-like (in all the wrong ways).

-Noel

[gator soup]

so sure things won't work!

just my gut feeling, Noel

my first Mac was a Centris 650 (system 7.5) and i bought G3 and G4 boxes when they first came out (i skipped G5) and still have a 1,1 Mac Pro 2006 working

10.5x was a disaster with Ps CS 3&4 on the 2006 Mac Pro (in hindsight probably due more to the Apple OEM 7300 video cards that never got fixed)

i've also bought every Ps from PS2.5 and seen my share of bugs...

but to illustrate my point, you only need to look at the GPU video driver problems Ps CS6 had with BOTH Windows and Mac (and how many updates from Apple/Windows/video manufacturers it took to get them working together)

i just don't see Adobe, Apple or video manufactures spending any time at all with next generation bugs/conflicts on discontinued software, including CS6, and i expect to see them early on when the new OSes and hardware come out...

[Guest]

I have three issues with CC:

1. I want to be able to EDIT my work when I don't have income. The desktop model supported this. The cloud model does not, and that is unacceptable.

2. Adobe can keep raising the price, because they will be holding us all hostage. Sure at some point a percentage of CC users would drop off, but all that means is that Adobe can milk the absolute most from us using this model. It's not a vehicle for innovation, it's a vehicle for exploitation.

3. F--- the cloud. I'll be keeping my work on my laptop, thank you very much.

[444333222111]

I found it very interesting Adobe started sending out the same surveys they sent to me months ago. https://ec3126.customervoice360.com/uc/main/7b14/ospe.php?SES=e9450e5f007f8a8b4b966e694ce656c2&syid=...

This time they emailed me twice to ask me to take the same surveys to see if I would be interested in the cloud.

HELLO! I didnt want the cloud in the first survey why would I want it in the 2 identical surveys?

Really building a genuine loathing for Adobe.

[bleep@aol.com]

Maybe-just maybe they'll take note of Microsoft's major change in their DRM policy on the new XBOX One as a result of the backlash from their customers. Maybe Adobe will listen to their customers but I doubt it. They have the attitude that what other companies learn from their customers just doesn't apply to them. Well Adobe, your customers continue to speak loud and clear. I use photoshop in spurts whenever I have a major shoot that I want to process. I don't use it eveyday or even every month-Adobe needs to come up with some pricing policy for us occasional users. In the meantime, I'll just use CS6 while I research a good alternative.

[uhanepono]

CC already hacked one day into release. Who's surprised?

http://fstoppers.com/adobe-photoshop-cc-has-already-been-pirated-in-just-one-day

[FastFeet]

Hey, Adobe gave them a big incentive. Thousands of angry customers.

[Baniita]

...I have a feeling it's a preventative measure against piracy.

But just because pirates are ripping them off doesn't mean they should rip paying customers off.

[444333222111]

Nope thats not the case the cloud has already been pirated. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57590213-83/that-was-quick-adobes-creative-cloud-already-pirated/

[uhanepono]

Something fishy going on? ... Here is something interesting.  750 layoffs in 2011, another 750 imminent. Most in the US. Looks like Adobe is eating it's own flesh to keep it's numbers up and show earnings in leau of growth. never a good sign. If I had stock I would bail right around now. Odd, CS6 was such a great version upgrade from CS5.1 as were the upgrades to CS%.1. I wonder who's left managment (or the boaard?) and who came on board to create such distopia so quickly? It can't be cracks and pirates as they have been a bane since the beginning never affected the corp.s robust creativivity and steady growth before. 

http://venturebeat.com/2011/11/08/adobe-layoffs/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/adobe-to-layoff-750-as-part-of-restructuring-plan_n_1082875...

[Herbert2001]

uhanepono wrote:

If I had stock I would bail right around now.

Well, seems Adobe's CEO Shantanyu Narayen had the same idea - he sold about half his Adobe stocks a month before CC was introduced at Adobe's highest stock market price, and netted himself around 10 million dollars.

Better safe than sorry, eh?

[Bryan_from_barrie]

There is really no sense in my typing this other than venting. I'm retired and use my CS4 and lightroom on a daily basis. To be held hostage to a subscription deal would be a really dumb thing for me . $800 for CS6 is robbery. That's what the original cost was when I opted into the program. As a retiree I figured every other version was a smart upgrade path. I always strenuously defended legit software and now I find myself almost numb with disapointment. Next they'll find a way tio run everything from India.

[uhanepono]

At the end of the day I am happy with my version of PS6 extended and will be happy with it for some time to come. Other apps will come along. I still love all the wondrous things PS6 does and adobe's long history of being a leading innovator in the field!  I will always remember them for that!

Bryan from barrie wrote:

There is really no sense in my typing this other than venting. I'm retired and use my CS4 and lightroom on a daily basis. To be held hostage to a subscription deal would be a really dumb thing for me . $800 for CS6 is robbery. That's what the original cost was when I opted into the program. As a retiree I figured every other version was a smart upgrade path. I always strenuously defended legit software and now I find myself almost numb with disapointment. Next they'll find a way tio run everything from India.

[AttilaHan]

In CC, there are 20+ applications ... and there are 7 categories (photography, web etc) for those applications ...

And, Adobe is just offering two subscription plans for customers.

Subscribe for one (with limited services) or subscribe for all ...

What a nice marketing strategy!!!

Reminds me the marketing strategies of one century ago.

I want to congratulate the marketing department of Adobe ...

[bababongatwo]

Also wonder about, how to become a professional in 20+ Apps.
Even when I have a look to feature-list of every single product.

Took years for me to become familar with PS, InDesign, AE, PREM, DW, Flash.
Illustrator is so ugly, that I´m still not would call me professional (hate it).

This take one or all offering is so stupid.

Take what you need, and play a little bit with the stuff, you don´t need.
But please: PAY for that.

[Steven L. Gotz]

I doubt anyone could be considered at a professional level for all of the Adobe apps.

However, even though I am only using a tiny little part of After Effects (mostly for titles) it is still better than anything else I have available for that task. I only use Audition to clean up noise in my audio. Yet is is better at that than any other tool I have. I barely touch the surface of Photoshop, but it makes my pictures look a lot better than they would otherwise. I am just now getting into using Lightroom 5 to organize my pictures. I will be watching some tutorials because my workflow needs a complete overhaul. It sure comes in handy to have Acrobat. I just used it to send some financial info to a company but it allowed me to redact the parts I didn't want them to see. I could have used Dreamweaver to redesign my website but I used Muse because, well, because I could. I admit, it is a very lazy way to create a site.

I might find all the new fonts handy. I don't know. I might, but I doubt it. I have only used Illustrator a couple of times in a decade. But I did use it.

I used to be considered pretty darn good at Premiere Pro. I have some catching up to do since I dropped out after CS3 and came back to CS6. But there was a time I would say I was at a professional level as far as Premiere Pro itself was concerned. I lack any real artistic talent when it comes to filmmaking, but I was technically adept at using the tool itself. I plan on figuring out how to use Speedgrade eventually, although with the Looks now in Premiere Pro that might not happen for a while.

I bought a little laptop to fit into my new camera bag, primarily just for Photoshop but it can do some basic Premiere Pro work if I don't expect too much from it. It uses Windows 8 so I might end up figuring out how to use some of the basics of the Touch apps just to see what I can see.

Then there is Behance, which is a pretty cool way to post photos and videos to share with the world. It is even easier than using Muse to create a site. I have no real need for ProSite, but what the heck? It's there and maybe there is a reason I have not discovered yet. Do I need Behance? No, of course not. I have my own eponymous web site. Is it still cool? Yep!

I have yet to use the available storage, but I might just use that today if I can figure out a way to do what I want to do.

The point here, obviously, is that even if you are at a professional level on one or two programs, having access to many of the others will allow you to do things with your "main" programs that you could not do otherwise.

I am not in any way saying that the pricing is fair, or that there should not be perpetual licenses or an exit strategy. I am merely replying to the concept of being at a professional level on all the apps. My thoughts are that it is OK to be professional at one or two or more, but just touch the edges of the others and still be glad to have them. I could never justify the cost of the Master Collection before, but now that I have everything, it is like a fry cook being exposed to all of the tools of a fine dinner house. I might not know what every tool does or how to use it.

Yet!

[Greg_Bohn]

> And, Adobe is just offering two subscription plans for customers.

  They obviously want you to buy the total line. By setting the single application price fairly high, they're hoping you'll think of the Full-line price as 'a bargain'.

  It's a bit like the classic 'decoy choice' trick in general sales (that takes advantage of human psychology).

  That one goes something like this: You're selling popcorn in a Theater, and have two sizes. 'Small' is $2.75 and 'large' is $ 8.00. The theatre discovers that most people only get the small because they think the large is too expensive.

  To boost sales, they add a 'dummy' medium size (that they don't really expect you to buy) for $7.50. It turns out many people would be drawn to the medium, look at the medium price, and then see that the 'large' is only $ 0.50 more.

  The result is usually that many people now buy the large because it seems "Like such as deal". After all, it's only $ 0.50 more than the medium.... These same people would have probably bought the small if the dummy medium size wasn't there.

  And if people still go for the medium, then the Theatre is still happy.

  In a similar way, I think the Adobe intent is that if you want 2 or more programs, you're supposed to forget about the price and think you're 'Getting such a deal' when you buy everything... even if you didn't want everything to start.

[crapola]

The cloud is a necessary evil for Adobe to survive. They know it, but the way in which they have gone about implementing the change over in business model has really pissed off a lot of people. Shall Adobe go the way of Quark? Sadly, this whole transition could of been handheld in a much more professional way from Adobe, but they way in which the legal content has been written clearly states that Adobe could care less about it's customers. This is usually death to a company in its current incarnation.

Having the CEO and a bunch of top board members blowing off a bunch of stock prior to the new release of CC is a good sign of the lack of confidence from its leaders. Clearly a flesh eating bacteria infects Adobe. Just wait till October when they start cutting limbs off in the form of more layoffs to keep the stock afloat.

Adobe will not survive a subscription based model in its current form.

[AttilaHan]

Not a marketing expert ... just as a customer, I would not like to buy a comb + a pencil with my popcorn ))

[crapola]

The decision to go subscription only is completely a brain fart on Adobes part. They have just limited one of their abilities to make money. Some would prefer the could due to a short term use requirement.

[AttilaHan]

Indeed, I like the CC model ... there are some issues like exit strategy, but generally I'm satisfied with it.

According to me, the main problem is ... why Adobe is offering a 11 inch mac book air on one side and a 12 core mac pro on the other side?

Today, hardware companies or even automobile companies offer configurators for their products ... in this respect, I think that a model like CC is very well suited for a software company. The only action that Adobe should take is to decide to use this model more elastically ...

And, we know, Adobe has experience in the wolrd of configurators ... for example, configurator for PS is a great product ))

[Brad_Trent]

AttilaHan offered: "...Indeed, I like the CC model ... there are some issues like exit strategy, but generally I'm satisfied with it....."

While most on-pros are having a huge problem with the monthly fee...and even I think there is no added value in paying double over what the regular upgrade charges have historically been for Adobe software...the number one stumbling block is still the lack of a clear idea what happens after you get off 'The Cloud'.

Whether or not the folks at Adobe woke up one day and realized they had to stabilize their revenue stream in order to stay in business is moot at this point. What is clear is that they sorely underestimated the backlash they were gonna get with the ham-handed way they have gone about implementing the new subscription-only system. The ill-will being tossed around is stunning. A year ago you would be hard pressed to find this kind of negativity regarding the Adobe brand.

If Adobe HAD an exit strategy whereby the user knew that at the point where they felt no need to continue paying for an upgraded product, at least the software they had been paying for would still function, I can guarantee the photography community would be more inclined to accept this new model. I've got a lotta time left in my career, but should there come a point when I hang up my cameras as a profession, I would certainly hope that I could still work on my legacy without having to pay a 'tax' to Adobe for the privilege.

[Steven L. Gotz]

As far as Photographers go (and I am becoming one as fast as I can - it takes a lot of work) the head of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals says to just buy Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements. Unless you need CYMK separation and a few other things that only Photoshop CC can provide, the perpetual licenses for Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements should do virtually everything you need done.

[Lundberg02]

AttilaHan: You don't actually mean that Adobe makes Macs, do you?

[Trevor.Dennis]

Steven L. Gotz wrote:

As far as Photographers go (and I am becoming one as fast as I can - it takes a lot of work) the head of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals says to just buy Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements. Unless you need CYMK separation and a few other things that only Photoshop CC can provide, the perpetual licenses for Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements should do virtually everything you need done.

Steven go check out some successful photographer's sites, and see what the world expects from outstanding imagery nowadays.  Lots of compositing and heavy editing that you can't do with Lightroom, and would soon grow out of using Elements.