The problem with what Adobe has done is not the "phone home" thing, its the hidden cost in the subscription and they way it puts their customers on the hook for endless costs. Let's be clear folks, this isn't really about the "cloud". This is about a fundamental shift from producing a product we bought, to a service we rent. References to the cloud by Adobe are just marketing hype.
The bottom line is this, you are now forced to rent their software as though it were a service rather than buying a licensed copy as a product. For some, the subscription might allow them to use Adobe products because they can afford the monthly subscription but balked at the higher cost of buying the software. However, as I've said before, in the long run the subscription will end up costing the user MORE, not less. For those of us using Adobe products professionally (and seriously, who else but professionals needs this kind of software), the cost was less of a problem.
I don't have a problem with them offering the subscription option, when it was just that... an option. Had Adobe chosen to offer both, we wouldn't be here expressing concern, anger and outrage. What I object to is that we can no longer buy a copy of the software as we have in the past. That puts us pretty much at the mercy of whatever Adobe decides to charge for the "service". It makes it harder for me to manage my costs as a freelance artist, a cost I cannot realistically pass on to my clients so I get stuck making less money while a company that reported $4.1 billion in earnings for 2012 gets richer. This isn't about the cloud, it isn't about a revolution in software. Its about corporate greed plain and simple.
Frankly I think Adobe execs need to get their heads out of the "cloud" and reconnect with reality. I need a product, not a service. I need one time costs I can manage, not an umbilical cord that raises my costs and without offering me any real benefit. This move comes at a time when many of us are still recovering from bad economies in the US and Europe. What I need right now is stability, not sudden change. I want software I can count on, not software that stops working if I can't pay the subscription this month because the economy is bad again. Two years ago I was in exactly that position, for awhile I couldn't even afford internet service because of the economy and loss of income. I managed to work my way out of it because I did have software that worked regardless, so I was able to keep working and earning money when and where I could. Eventually I got back on my feet and am doing better now, not great, but the bills are paid. Meanwhile a bunch of overpaid execs are sitting at a conference bragging about how great this is for them and lying to the rest of us about how great it will be for us. Its bull, this change won't benefit me at all and if things get tight again it would mean I'd have no software to use to earn a living... I'd be flat out of business. That means I can no longer rely on Adobe, which means I won't be using their "services" at all in the future. I need a PRODUCT that I can count on and unfortunately Adobe has chosen to no longer be a source for that.
What's more interesting is that it isn't actually a monthly subscription, its an annual contract that costs about 50% of what the software originally did to purchase outright. Why does Adobe think such an annual contract is a good thing to move towards when you look at cellphone companys that are moving away from contracts because customers hate them. Has it not occurred to Adobe that once people start really figuring out what they've done, that they'll now have to buy into an annual contract for rental software the outrage we're seeing right now might be just the tip of the iceberg of the reaction later on?
Adobe exec's need to stop sitting around congratulating themselves about how they are now "part of the cloud" and how this is going to help people "share creativity". I don't SHARE my creativity, I SELL it to make a living. I'm not using Adobe products to make collages of family photos and upload them to Facebook or Photobucket (the later has free built in tools for that anyway). I used professional software to do professional work in order to earn a living. No I wasn't getting rich, but for many of us life isn't about getting rich its about doing what we enjoy and keeping the bills paid. Maybe Adobe forgot that's who many of us actually are, I'd say most, of us who have bought their products and supported their company for years.
It was fun while it lasted Adobe, sorry you decided to forget the customer base on who's loyalty you built your company. Good luck with your "cloud". As for myself, I'll be taking my future software needs and budget elsewhere to a provider that actually gets that I need a product I can depend on, not a "rental service" dependant on subscriptions and cloud connections. That may well mean turning to software that doesn't provide all the professional tools I've been used to having, which will make my job harder. But I'd rather deal with that and know that once I buy the software it will continue to work when I need it regardless of the internet, the cloud, or my finances; than deal with a subscription umbilical cord that if cut would literally put me out of work with no way to recover.
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