Adobe Creative Suite is on the chopping block

[ravells]

From the Adobe Website FAQ:


Do I need ongoing Internet access to use my Creative Cloud desktop applications?

No. Your Creative Cloud desktop applications (such as Photoshop and Illustrator) are installed directly on your computer, so you won't need an ongoing Internet connection to use them on a daily basis.
You will need to be online when you install and license your software. If you have an annual membership, you'll be asked to connect to the web to validate your software licenses every 30 days. However, you'll be able to use products for 180 days even if you're offline.



For me it's all about the price, and the price is great at @ £50/month for use every Adobe program including all the creative stuff, PS, Illy, dreamweaver, indesign etc but also acrobat, lightroom etc. The full list of what you get is huge.


But I don't want all of those programs. I just want photoshop and it looks like there's currently no option to spend less and have access to only one or some of the Adobe suite. I would be willing to pay about £10/month as a subscription for the latest version of photoshop alone, given how much I use it. I happily pay about the same amount for spotify. I don't want to pay a ton of money for stuff I'm not going to use.

So it looks like the statement that Adobe are currently making is: use all of our suite or none of it. I suspect that they are going to see what the take up is on the full suite first and then start releasing cut down options if their business model requires it. I do hate the dishonesty of the way it's rolled out though: 'We love you, our customers we only do what you want to support your creativity etc etc.' No. You are a business and you are in this to make money. You have no emotional connection to your customers. You the business and we the customers perform a financial transaction in which we each try to maximise the value of that transaction to ourselves.

:: Edit :: Just checked the adobe webiste - they do single app plans @ £18/month per application. Still too expensive in my book but much better.

[Nyarlathoteps_Evil_Twin]

I can see lots of reasons for Adobe to want to move to the cloud model. Harder to pirate (I'm guessing) as you will probably need an internet connection in order to use the software each time you run it. It makes it affordable for many more people (lots of whom I'm guessing are the current pirates). Assuming the price is $20 (say £15) a month, that comes to £180 a year and always having the most up to date version. Right now I don't think there's anything in the latest extended suite I feel that I desperately need over CS4 which I already have, but I guess that will change at some point.

Just a note on the web connection point above - you don't need to be online to use the software - it just needs to go online once a month to check your subscription is still valid. When you sign up you download the software apps themselves (that was a fun day for the entire collection) then can use them as you like.

My wife and I are both designers and having got sick of trying to keep multiple machines up to date with Adobe software, we decided to take the plunge and go with the Creative Cloud option. Fortunately we did it via our company so we're not personally forking out the monthly fee (we're paying two subscriptions, though that covers two machines each - one desktop, one laptop). I can totally understand the cost implications from a hobbyist perspective, but to counter that it does give you a lot of bang for your buck - we went for the full sub and now have access to ALL Adobe software - we're paying around £50/month for that which may seem a lot, but then every update comes as part of the subscription so no more shelling out for new versions. Over the lifespan of the software I personally think it is good value, but like I said I'm paying through my company not personally.

I know there's a lot of anger over this model among the design community in general, but my view is that Adobe have got to make some money somewhere - theirs is probably some of the most heavily pirated software around. I'm not saying that this new subscription model is a good thing from the hobbyist perspective, as in the past I've been there myself (i.e. not being able/prepared to fork out hundreds for a piece of software). One bonus aspect though is that I now have access to software I never had the chance to try out before as part of my subscription (I'm currently teaching myself After Effects).

That's my perspective - not great for everybody but kind of inevitable...