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Adobe Changing Course? Sort of....


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<p>I just received an email from a trusted source (Mark S. Johnson Photography</p>

<a href="http://www.msjphotography.com/">www.msjphotography.com</a>) who related the following:

<p>Friends,<br /><br />After all of the recent grumbling about Photoshop Creative Cloud pricing, Adobe has finally listened to photographers and come up with a plan that gives us all reason to keep being creative! Yesterday at Photoshop World, Adobe announced a Creative Cloud membership plan designed exclusively for photographers and priced just right. Here's an excerpt from their press release: <br /><br />"Since introducing Photoshop CC we’ve listened to feedback from a spectrum of our customers, from advanced professionals to casual enthusiasts. One common request was a solution specifically tailored for photographers. We listened and at Photoshop World we’re announcing a special offer for our loyal Photoshop customers. Beginning today, customers who own Photoshop CS3 or higher are eligible for a special Creative Cloud membership offer that includes all of the following for just $9.99/month (pricing varies outside of the US):<br /><br />Photoshop CC<br />Lightroom 5<br />20 GB of online storage<br />Behance ProSite<br />Access to the online video tutorials in Creative Cloud<br /><br />This is the ongoing price for anyone who signs up by December 31, 2013. So if you sign up in October 2013, then when you renew in October 2014, the price will still be $9.99 per month. We do not currently have any intention of raising this price."<br /><br />Adobe has announced that this offer will become available in a few weeks. When it is, I'll make an announcement on <a href="http://www.msjphotography.com/">MSJPhotography</a>, or you can check out the <a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5609242-10685983">Adobe site</a> to learn when the offer goes live.<br /><br />Best!<br /><br />Mark<br>

Mark S. Johnson Photography</p>

 

<a href="http://www.msjphotography.com/"> </a>

 

 

 

 

 

Back to my question: As a former CS5 owner I reluctantly bit the bullet and updated a single application, i.e. to Photoshop CC, <strong>before Adobe's last deadline of July 31st</strong> under a contract of $9.99 per month for the first year then jumping to $20 per month thereafter. Now, will I, as a "loyal PhotoShop customer", be eligible for the new $9.99 per month forever plan?

 

I haven't contacted Adobe about this as the new plan is not posted on their website as of yet.

 

Any thoughts? I'm sure a bunch of us are in the same boat.

 

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<p>John, there may be a bunch of us in the same boat, but I feel more like I'm floating on a raft. My problem is, I don't want to have to rely on the cloud for any Photoshop work - period. I just want to pay a reasonable price for the software and a two-PC license, install it and go to work, just like in the "good old days". So, am I the only dinosaur out here?</p>
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<p>William, you don't have to rely on the cloud for your PhotoShop work. Simply save any image you happen to be working on to a folder on your home based hard drive(s). The cloud feature, I'm guessing, is for pro's working in a mobile environment who need access to their files anywhere, anytime. As a lowly photo enthusiast I have no need for this feature. And yes, $9.99 per month is still a kick in the shin but is somewhat mediated by the provided software, the instant updates, and the would-be cost of upgrading to newer versions of PS in the future.<br>

Will Adobe find a way to sell us something else down the line? I'm sure they will as every business does.<br>

If this ten-bucks-a-month plan holds for an appreciable time I can personally justify the annoyance based on my volume and level of work. As always, your mileage may vary.</p>

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<p>Clearly their marketing team doesn't listen very well to those who emphatically have indicated it's not the price that's the issue it's the fact you have to rent software on a monthly basis into perpetuity that's tied to hard earned content that has quite a bit invested becoming even more integrated within the complexity of the software years later. Makes it difficult to keep track of everything down the road especially for those who wear socks with sandals and play shuffleboard. </p>

<p>It corners the customer into viewing their content nervously from the fact it's made with nondestructive Adobe algorithms that are updated/upgraded with new features and bug fixes not just to benefit the customer but to keep up with newer operating systems and hardware. It just adds another layer of rat's nest integration to their Digital Asset Management routines and strategies that vary customer to customer who deal with tens of thousands of images. Future internal dialog...</p>

<p>Adobe:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"Pay the rent or everything gets turned off!"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Customer:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"What?...What does that mean? I forgot how it works? Oh my! I need to check my thousands of images to see if they're broken."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Grandpa has a heart attack from not eating, sleeping or keeping hydrated from checking thousands of images. Adobe decides to turn everything back on and runs and hides in shame.</p>

<p>"Casual enthusiasts/hobbyists" as myself like the freedom of choosing when they want to buy a newer system and the thought of things breaking while still paying a monthly fee because all these vendors aren't on the same page with the possibility of being stuck with no options while continuing to pay or else lose other low level functioning tends to make me and other's brains hurt.</p>

<p>Seeing how their marketing team is handling this...well...I'ld have to quote in the schlocky tone of Donald Trump..."Yo' Fah-yud!"</p>

<p>Again we accept what the smartest guys in the room say and do and just live with the consequences. </p>

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<blockquote>

<p>Clearly their marketing team doesn't listen very well to those who emphatically have indicated it's not the price that's the issue</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>You'd probably do well to remember that your personal opinion isn't the voice of the Silent Majority, Tim - in fact for most people (if the internet is <em>any </em>indicator of what "most" people think), price was <em>indeed </em>the main bugbear. </p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>It corners the customer into viewing their content nervously from the fact it's made with nondestructive Adobe algorithms that are updated/upgraded with new features and bug fixes not just to benefit the customer but to keep up with newer operating systems and hardware</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>"<em>Cornered</em>"? Nobody from Adobe is holding a gun to <em>anyone's </em>head here - besides, this piece of hyperbole accurately sums up the situation we're in without CC: and it's meaningless in terms of it being a "risk".</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Grandpa has a heart attack from not eating, sleeping or keeping hydrated from checking thousands of images. </p>

</blockquote>

<p><em> </em><br>

<em>Eh? </em>Seriously Tim - either take more water with it, or lay off the coffee until after you've decided to "contribute"; <em>nothing </em>about Adobe's direction of travel will - or even <em>could </em><em>- </em>make this comment remotely meaningful. What do you possibly think Adobe might do to "break" anyone's ability to continue to use the images they own? It's a hypothetical question. The answer is <em>nothing.</em><em> </em></p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Again we accept what the smartest guys in the room say and do and just live with the consequences.<br /><br /></p>

</blockquote>

<p><em>Again</em>, you don't have to "accept" anything about this, and it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise; either continue to use what you're using now, or find non-Adobe alternatives. They exist.</p>

<p>We get it, Tim - you're set against CC. But it might serve the community better if you yourself first understood <em>why</em> you're against it, and articulated that rather than inventing utterly preposterous and meaningless soundbites with which to define your opposition - bluntly, you're talking nonsense, and the "issues" you've raised wouldn't be out of place in a Grimms' fairy tale.</p>

<p>Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good rant, eh?</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>I have no faith whatsoever that Adobe won't screw us down the road - again.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And how - exactly - has Adobe screwed you already?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I will stick with what I currently own.</p>

</blockquote>

<p><em>Oh, the humanity! </em>What a terrible fate - those bastards at Adobe putting you in the<em> Hell Of Nothing Actually Going To Get Any Worse Than It Is Right Now...</em></p>

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<p>My problem with CC is the perpetuity of it - I stop paying and I own nothing and it is my understanding that I lose access to the software within in month (or 90 days at the longest). Otherwise, $120 per year is indeed a fair price - if one upgraded photoshop and lightroom every time a new version came out, the cost would be higher - but if one decided not to upgrade one still had software that worked - in perpetuity.</p>

<p>Also, the deal seems to end December 1 - for those who haven't signed up by then, the price will be higher again.</p>

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<p>The temporary nature of my right to use the software and the land mines buried in the EULA were the deal breakers for me the first time around. Nothing has changed in regard to item one and my guess is that this will be true of item two as well.</p>

<p>No, not for me. Ever.</p>

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<p>Dieter, the deadline is December 31, not December 1.</p>

<p>Lupo, I think that's from the other end of the horse. ;-)</p>

<p>OK, my perspective is based on the fact that I'm perfectly happy with CS5, don't need or want Lightroom, and never saw the need to upgrade to CS6 even before it started clouding up. What I would really like to be able to do is purchase an additional license for two more computers so that my wife can run CS5 on her machines. Somehow, I suspect that ain't gonna happen. And, based on the current prices for copies of CS5 now on eBay and Amazon, it looks like I'm not the only one trying to dodge the CC bullet...</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>But it might serve the community better if you yourself first understood <em>why</em> you're against it...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I just outlined why I'm against it using a possible case scenario with a bit of tongue and cheek to your stuffed shirt styled comments. You really can't read between the lines, can you?</p>

<p>It's the complexity of it all down the road including what Howard mentioned about the EULA which I'ld wish he'ld expand upon.</p>

<p>I think CC approach is a great idea for a corporation such as Adobe to improve their bottom line. Not so great for those who want their imaging software to get more simplified.</p>

<p>I don't call it simple having a download app permanently residing on ones computer to check on you month to month and all the possible SNAFU's that can occur when a user switches or adds more computers and has to have that CC download app tag along on everyone of them hoping nothing gets corrupted.</p>

<p>A lot of folks clone their hard drives which that CC download app is going to be a part of. Those backup cloning apps have to have a preference sets on what and when to update old versions of data and what to do with them. CC download data may throw a possible monkey wrench several years down the road when the user wants to transfer back that cloned data and find things don't work as they should and gets involved in along troubleshooting session with no end in sight to finding the cause.</p>

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<p>Interesting if you only need PS and LR, but Adobe's sell is the whole suite of applications in the Creative Cloud, and it may be that's their plan, for photographers who may want to upgrade or expand into other applications. I'm currently on a $20/month subscription for the CC (one year discount for previous subscribers to other applications), and I've found they upgraded CS6 applications into CC applications. I'm using 3 CC applications and not PS or LR5 because I like the CS5-6 versions of PS, besides if you bought LR5 and install the CC version, it overwrites your paid version.</p>
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<p>I agree with many of the comments above. I don't want to pay a monthly fee for a product I may not use very often. I just want to purchase a software license when I choose and upgrade it when I choose. I like having the choice and, furthermore, it incentivizes Adobe to keep improving their products so I will want to upgrade. <strong>If Adobe starts getting paid every month no matter what, they won't be very motivated to improve.</strong></p>

<p>Adobe backed off on their original plan when they realized how unpopular it is. Perhaps they will back off on this plan if we reject it too. In the meantime, I will stay alert for alternative products.</p>

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<p>I worked for a company at one time that told me they had no plan for relocating for the 'foreseeable future'. Less than two weeks later I was told they would be relocating to a site 800 miles away. Sorry but this offer is not for me. I will continue to use purchased rather than rented products.</p>
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<p>If the standalone model was economically feasible Adobe would continue using it. The problem is rampant piracy gave them little choice.</p>

<p>Just as an example, when I mentioned that I wasn't eligible for this offer because I didn't already own CS3, an acquaintance suggested "Just torrent it". I mentioned that I actually did have a Demonoid invite but never activated it because I wasn't comfortable with pirating software, movies, etc.</p>

<p>I pay an annual subscription fee for Amazon Prime because it's a good value. Lots of folks pay for streaming movie/TV for the same reason. And lots of gamers subscribe to Steam, which is the only way to get access to some popular games. Piracy made game development economically infeasible, and Steam provided an alternative that many people support even though, let's face it, video gaming is a luxury.</p>

<p>Professional photographers and serious amateurs will support Adobe's cloud based services. The rest were never customers anyway.</p>

<p>And, yes, of course Adobe will continue to improve and innovate. Switching to cloud based subscription services won't lessen the competition or reduce the demands by photographers and graphic artists for ever-better tools.</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>The problem is rampant piracy gave them little choice.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

Lex is absolutely right on this. Unless someone here that is complaining about CC has a better solution for Adobe to combat piracy, there's no point in complaining. So which of you complainers has the solution?<br>

<br>

BTW, a lot of apps are dependent on "the cloud" now, which a lot of people don't think about, maybe because, at least currently, they are free. Anything done with Google, for example. Evernote. A lot of backup solutions. And it's not just apps, it's websites. If Facebook died, I would lose contact not just with friends but with potential and existing clients. </p>

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<blockquote>

<p>Lex is absolutely right on this. Unless someone here that is complaining about CC has a better solution for Adobe to combat piracy, there's no point in complaining. So which of you complainers has the solution?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Pretty sure Adobe has phoned home for quite awhile now, since they introduced activation many years ago. Their activation schema works pretty well too. I've got CS6 and other Adobe app's on multiple systems with a license that allows two per serial to run concurrently. Very easy to deactivate on system A then activate on system C while B is left alone. Even without net access I was once able to do this by phone. The software product my partners produce uses a similar system which we had to implement due to the fact we did find piracy an issue and we work within Photoshop as a plug-in. Any photographer who's had his work stolen, or anyone who's developed software that's been pirated will have a different sensitivity to what Adobe and other's do to combat this issue. That's a completely different issue than moving to a subscription model! </p>

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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<p>There seems to be some conceptual bloc to the idea of subscription services in software. But we've all been living our life utilizing these means of product delivery since the the turn of the 90th to the 20th century. How about all your utilities, elec. gas, water, trash, telephone, and more modern conveyances such as Netflix, Cable, Direct TV and all cell phone service. <br>

At 10 bucks a month for Photoshop AND Lightroom plus the other extras, sounds to me a very good deal.</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>Pretty sure Adobe has phoned home for quite awhile now, since they introduced activation many years ago.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

The problem has been that with the licensed product, it is easy to beat the activation. <br>

</p>

 

 

<blockquote>

<p>Does this mean that if someone's CC subscription expires, they will no longer be able to open and further process their PSD files?</p>

</blockquote>

 

 

 

 

<p> You will be able to open and process them, but not with any version of PS from when the CC versions started.

</p>

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<p>It's time to stop talking about Adobe's moves and either sign up or move on. I have decided to become Adobe free. it is neither difficult nor the end of the world. It took me about 3 months to do it in a planned and organized manner. It's really just a matter of choice.</p>

<p>Stop bellyaching, and start ACTING!</p>

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