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Adobe Announces New Creative Cloud Apps, Abandons Creative Suite

What Happened to Adobe?

Once upon a time Adobe was a fabulous company that made a few great products... RIP.

Take a closer look at their new logo for this rollout:

It's a warning label! Look closer...

It's a pictogram: Someone is getting screwed!

Probably not irony either.
 
JamesInLA said:
They have no competition now because it wouldn't have made sense for anyone to spend the money to develop a competitor. But if they stick to their guns on this licensing model, it sure seems like a profitable niche, particularly for a company that already has some of the pieces in hand.
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I still don't feel that this licensing shift will inspire anyone to invest the serious capital required to develop competitors to Adobe's suite. It might inject some life into the existing alternatives but I'm not entirely convinced the other big guns (Apple, Google, etc.) have any interest in being leaders in this space.

the8thark said:
I would downvote you if I could. Apple have not abandoned the pros. Apple is just taking a different direction with it all. Some pros like it, others don't. Can't please everyone all of the time.
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I agree and disagree. I don't think they've abandoned anything or anybody, but they have definitely taken focus away from them. I'm fine with a "different direction" a la FCPX, so long as there is a direction. 3+ years without a significant Aperture update isn't much of a direction.
 
the8thark said:
I would downvote you if I could. Apple have not abandoned the pros. Apple is just taking a different direction with it all. Some pros like it, others don't. Can't please everyone all of the time.
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You're just referencing the changes to Final Cut. Apple's "Pro" market has included the Mac Pro, Logic, etc. And there's been little to absolutely nothing on those fronts.
 
Well that's disappointing, I am on Photoshop CS5, the upgrade to CS6 has gone on Amazon and well as Adobe's online store in the UK. Looks like Pixelmator for me. Not going to move to CC version for the amount of money they want.

Thank god I never moved to Lightroom and stuck with Aperture. Although Lightroom is still available as a standalone purchase. Imagine not being able to access your photo's because you cancelled your subscription! I guess that is why Lightroom is not part of CC at the moment.
 
JamesInLA said:
Sure, but in this model you don't just pay for it in the months you use it. It's recurring. The individual "cancel at any time" price is $75/mo. How many of your small businesses are going to sit and think about whether they should pay $75 this month to edit their flyer? It's not a viable option.
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If that's the case, they'll just download GIMP, Pixelmator, or Acorn. Though if for some reason or another they absolutely need PS to do some quick project, $75 for unfettered access for a month is better than paying $600 for it.

...or they could just pirate it, do their thing, and delete it. There's always that third option.
 
So I subscribe to Photoshop CC...do some work...stop subscribing and a year later want to make a small change to some text - because i dont subscribe - i cant even open my old files anymore?!

It's sad to see that innovation and technology advancements are coming at a cost of convenience (and common sense it seems).
 
I use only Photoshop and Lightroom. NO WAY I am paying $50 / month for the privilege of "renting" these applications for the rest of my life. Sad.
 
Well at least now Apple isn't the only one that has screwed their pro customers. Difference is this actually Adobe's bread and butter so they're more likely to feel that incoming wrath in their bottom line.
 
the8thark said:
You don't know this. Adobe might only allow monthly activations/renewals of the latest versions of their software. And this is a very import question to the pros out there.
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You're right. I don't. It just seems kinda dumb to me that they'd require you to update to the latest and greatest before they'll revalidate your subscription. I think they'd be more concerned with the fact that you're paying them than they are with everyone using the latest update.
 
THey had already made their upgrade policies so punitive that it was hardly worth NOT subscribing if you use more than one app.

It bugs me.

But I'd almost forgive it if they'd fix the bugs! Each version of Photoshop is buggier than the last... gone are the days when PS was the rock-solid gold standard of great software. Now the UI is weird and inconsistent and tools fail in mission-criticial ways at unpredictable times.
 
Conservative estimates for my workplace puts it at around $195,000 AUD yearly for the $24.99AUD per month EDU plan (500 users).

I'm not counting the costs of the first year, because it is an introductory offer.

There is no way I would recommend this model to our business manager. As it is we've just upgraded to CS 6, so I think it will be the last time we do an Adobe deployment. Free/cheaper alternatives here we come.
 
the8thark said:
I would downvote you if I could. Apple have not abandoned the pros. Apple is just taking a different direction with it all. Some pros like it, others don't. Can't please everyone all of the time.
Click to expand...

Thankfully, Arn et al decided downvoting was a passive-aggressive approach that was inferior to members politely engaging in online discussions (and also bolstered more site visits).

I appreciate your opinion, but for those of us who have been using Apple since OS 8 or earlier, and using Final Cut Pro 7, Aperture, Shake (cue taps, although I know Motion has "replaced" Shake, it still isn't the same and lacks many features), Logic, et al, Apple did focus on the mass consumer market. This resulted in many pro's moving to other platforms and app's, such as Adobe (CS6 is a great release and garnered much praise from the pro-community).

However, there is only so much consumer market one may tap into, and as China has proven a tough market for Apple to tap into, the mobile market and to an extent the notebook market is plateauing a bit for Apple. Businesses and professionals spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on hardware and license upgrades, that adds up, even for a "niche" market".

Once the other Adobe paintbrush drops, professionals (such as the ones livid with contending with hundreds of systems) will be begging for an alternative. If Apple is wise, it will pick up where it left off years ago. :)
 
fivedots said:
I agree and disagree. I don't think they've abandoned anything or anybody, but they have definitely taken focus away from them. I'm fine with a "different direction" a la FCPX, so long as there is a direction. 3+ years without a significant Aperture update isn't much of a direction.
Click to expand...

Spot on. The latest Final Cut Pro X update [finally] brought back many features we've been clamoring about. However, Aperture is long in the tooth, Shake is sorely missed (Motion doesn't compare), and the hardware is disgraceful. I miss 3 dedicated displays with cords that reached the machine. If my 7-8 year old 23" and 30" CCFL LCD's didn't burn out, I'd still be using them.
 
Marbles1 said:
It's in every company's interest.
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Irrelevant. This is in NO consumer's interest.

In the end, that is why capitalism still prevails: stupid business models collapse, new companies arise.

Adobe already had a great failure in Flash; now it's gonna disappear even if it has, for a long time, retained the easy crown of the relevant photo editing market with Photoshop.

Other recent examples of such greedy stupidity?

The new SimCity and Real Racing 3. Hopefully the backlash will teach'em a lesson.
 
Nobody has realised the really big issue.
Under the purchase option, if you don't upgrade, your apps will become further and further out of date, but will be useable for ever more if you can keep a suitable machine going.
Under the subscription option, if you stop paying, your apps become unusable in 30 days...

So you may have paid Adobe for say 5 years, but at the end you have... nothing.

This stinks.

Bye bye Adobe...
 
Well, at least we know that Adobe is still developing pro software. Unlike the abandonware that Aperture has become.
 
Another problem with the new "rental" pricing system is that it's not so bad for some single apps, but others have much lower prices to buy. For example, look at Audition, it's $350 - really, it's going to cost $240 per year to use this new version, the same as Photoshop which sells for $600?
 
I have said this many times before. ALL applications are going this way, cloud computing, which is fee based of course. Microsoft will be doing it to. Get used to it or move over to linux folks. More and more programs are going that way.
 
Am I misunderstanding? £50 a month to use Photoshop?! Damn! I thought Adobe products were overpriced BEFORE this! Or will you still be able to buy a single copy of Photoshop/Lightroom/Elements for the standard price and not part of the CC? Is this for people/companies who use lots of Adobe products all at once instead of just one?

Someone please explain. :(
 
milo said:
Another problem with the new "rental" pricing system is that it's not so bad for some single apps, but others have much lower prices to buy. For example, look at Audition, it's $350 - really, it's going to cost $240 per year to use this new version, the same as Photoshop which sells for $600?
Click to expand...

There are a few issues with it. Like subscribing to two apps only costs $10 less than subscribing to the whole enchilada.

If Adobe really wants this to succeed, they need to work out their pricing options a little better.
 
JarScott said:
Am I misunderstanding? £50 a month to use Photoshop?! Damn! I thought Adobe products were overpriced BEFORE this! Or will you still be able to buy a single copy of Photoshop/Lightroom/Elements for the standard price and not part of the CC? Is this for people/companies who use lots of Adobe products all at once instead of just one?

Someone please explain. :(
Click to expand...

The way it works out is you pay $240 to use PS or any other single app for a year on an annual sub, $360 if you go month by month. The whole suite, which is everything Adobe makes, costs $600 for a year.
 
I've been on Creative Cloud for a year now. I owned Master Collection CS5 and was considering paying for an upgrade but decided to go cloud instead. To be honest, I think it's great. In the long run it may end up being more expensive than just doing annual (or biannual updates) but paying $50 a month puts it in perspective. It's less than I pay for cable.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as I'm a professional in the creative industry, I'm going to use some combination of Adobe apps and I'm going to want the latest and greatest. That's just me. I own a copy of CS5 and it sits on the shelf collecting dust since I moved to CS6. So while it's great to outright own the software, how many of us can honestly say we'd be happy sticking with an old version of Adobe software when the shiny new stuff is available? Thanks to my Cloud membership, I get the shiny new stuff on day one.

Just my opinion, but I can certainly understand why many people might be upset or nervous about this.
 
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