Adobe Launches Creative Cloud and Muse, Augments iOS App Offerings

[MacRumors]

In line with its Creative Suite 6 announcement from earlier this week, Adobe today launched its Creative Cloud subscription service. As part of the Creative Cloud debut, Adobe has also publicly debuted Muse, a subscription-based website creation package that allow users to easily create websites without needing to know HTML. Muse has been in public beta since last August.

Adobe Creative Cloud Membership Delivers:

- Access to download and install all CS6 applications, new HTML5 desktop products - Adobe Muse and Adobe Edge preview - and integration with Adobe Touch Apps
- Easy storage and sharing of content across desktop, mobile devices and the cloud
- Integrated website publishing and hosting
- Ongoing innovation that provides members with the most up-to-date products and services

Individual pricing for Creative Cloud is set at $49.99 per month with an annual commitment or $74.99 on a month-to-month basis. Muse is included in that package, but is also available as a standalone subscription product priced at $14.99 per month with an annual commitment or $24.99 on a month-to-month basis.

Adobe's Creative Cloud launch has also seen several improvements to the company's suite of iOS applications, including the launch of two new iPad apps: Adobe Proto [App Store] and Adobe Collage [App Store]. Plans for the two apps were announced last October as part of Adobe's push into tablet apps.

Proto is a protoyping tool that allows users to create wireframes of websites and apps right on their iPads using touch gestures, while Collage is a mood board app allowing users to combine images, video, and text to help define creative concepts and share them with others. Adobe has also updated its existing Photoshop Touch [App Store] and Ideas [App Store].

All four iOS apps, which are priced at $9.99 each, integrate with the new Creative Cloud services, including the free level of support which offers 2 GB of cloud-based file storage to allow for syncing of documents across applications.

Article Link: Adobe Launches Creative Cloud and Muse, Augments iOS App Offerings

 

[MacDawg]

I've pretty much moved away from all Adobe products
There are viable (cheaper) alternatives for most things for most people

 

[auero]

Just purchased it. It's a steal for me at EDU pricing.

 

[shoelessone]

I've pretty much moved away from all Adobe products
There are viable (cheaper) alternatives for most things for most people

For the first time in my life, I've started to wonder what will happen with Adobe over the next few years.

I love their products, they are in my opinion clearly the best that's out there for professional work, but with the 1.99 App store apps coming out I wonder how long it'll be before somebody puts together a 9.99 photoshop replacement.

I realize it's not as simple as that, Adobe has critical mass in many areas and honestly it's not so simple to displace them, but still, their pricing puts them in a different realm then most people are becoming used to.

Then again, I wonder the same that with microsoft and how they'll end up pricing Windows 8. Maybe I've just become a bit blind myself.

 

[pubwvj]

Baaahhhd Idea

Oh, so Adobe software wasn't slow enough. Now they're going to throttle it through network bandwidth to make it even slower. Great. Count me out.

 

[Will do good]

Can't wait for the day when Adobe is out of business or professional don't need them as much.

I've been a customer for 20+ years and they are adding less value and charging more for their products. Most of the new features I can do with my own work arounds. They are not that tricky if you have the skills. I can't see paying couple of thousand per license for these updates. Their business model is highway robbery.

 

[rei101]

Sort of expensive.

 

[AlanShutko]

Oh, so Adobe software wasn't slow enough. Now they're going to throttle it through network bandwidth to make it even slower. Great. Count me out.

It is just a different way to buy the software. You still download it and run it locally.

 

[netnothing]

Oh, so Adobe software wasn't slow enough. Now they're going to throttle it through network bandwidth to make it even slower. Great. Count me out.

Software is installed and run locally. You are just paying for a subscription for the license.

And FYI....things like Photoshop and Illustrator CS6 are much improved in responsiveness.

-Kevin

 

[supertonic]

Very disappointed with Adobe!
They announced Photoshop CS5.5 & Illustrator CS5.5 & Flash Pro CS5.5 have
security vulnerabilities & they expect people to pay for the security updates.
You gotta pay for CS6 versions to get the security fix!

http://www.h-online.com/security/ne...updates-for-Photoshop-and-others-1571517.html

Photoshop CS5.5 Security Bulletin http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb12-11.html
Illustrator CS5.5 Security Bulletin http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb12-10.html
Flash Pro CS5.5 Security Bulletin http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb12-12.html

 

[dashiel]

I've pretty much moved away from all Adobe products
There are viable (cheaper) alternatives for most things for most people

Why do you think they’re moving to a subscription based service? Getting you locked in to their SaS is going to make moving to an alternative much more difficult.

$29/$49 seems like a pretty good deal, especially when you throw in TypeKit and Cloud Storage, but when you dig a little deeper it’s not so shiny. Adobe products are on an 18-24 upgrade cycle, so someone upgrading will pay between $660 and $900. The Master Collection upgrade is $525, it’s even cheaper for those who don’t want/need the full Master Collection. If I stop paying my monthly dues at any point with The Creative Cloud I lose access to my apps.

I won’t be surprised to see CS7 be cloud only except for rare education/government/enterprise customers and then it’s game over. Larger agencies will move to that model because it’s more economical, smaller shops and freelancers will be forced to upgrade as incompatible file formats between CS7 and earlier versions migrate from .FLA to .PSD and .AI files.

I just hope Pixelmator, Sketch, Opacity, et. al., can gain a little more ground. They’re almost there another 18-24 month Adobe product lifecycle might just be enough time.

 

[gatearray]

For the first time in my life, I've started to wonder what will happen with Adobe over the next few years.

I love their products, they are in my opinion clearly the best that's out there for professional work, but with the 1.99 App store apps coming out I wonder how long it'll be before somebody puts together a 9.99 photoshop replacement.

I realize it's not as simple as that...

http://appshopper.com/photography/adobe-photoshop-touch

 

[winston1236]

Can't wait for the day when Adobe is out of business or professional don't need them as much.

I've been a customer for 20+ years and they are adding less value and charging more for their products. Most of the new features I can do with my own work arounds. They are not that tricky if you have the skills. I can't see paying couple of thousand per license for these updates. Their business model is highway robbery.

exactly, like adding "3d extrude" in after effects. whats the point I can do it faster in Cinema 4D and AE cant render GI or ambient occlusion. pass

 

[netnothing]

As a "professional" that uses Adobe software for a living....personally I think the $600/year is a decent price. Would I like to pay less.....sure....who wouldn't....but $600 over an entire year to have access to EVERY Adobe app (with Lightroom coming this summer)....that's nice.

Most pros can book a few jobs that will pay for the entire year.

No more worries about updates is nice as well.

Let's remember....none of these apps are for my Mom. She doesn't need Photoshop or Illustrator. There are viable alternatives for the consumer market.

My only hope is they give new tiers to pricing. Let's say I don't even need any of the video apps.....I'd like to be able to get a discount to not have access to them.

I got in on the sweet $29.99 deal for the first year. I own CS5....so I figure this gives me a year to try it out....if I start to see where things aren't looking good....at least I can still buy in to a full license based on upgrade pricing from CS5.

-Kevin

 

[tubular]

Piece it out, Adobe

Very overpriced — 75 smackeroos a month to rent their software?

And why is it that Adobe makes you buy every damned thing on their shelf every time, rather than letting you just pick the one you want? What are they, a freaking cable company? I would consider buying InDesign if there were a way to get it without having to also buy Photoshop, which I don't want, and having to also buy Illustrator, which I don't want, and having to also buy Acrobat, which I don't want...

It's like going to a car dealership, and having the guy in the loud plaid jacket saying, "Yes, I'll sell you this car, but you'll have to buy these other three cars along with it. What a great deal I'm giving you on the price of the other three cars you don't actually want to buy!"

 

[Snowy_River]

Personally, I abhor the subscription model. As has been pointed out, the current subscription model is more expensive than upgrading with every upgrade. Further, it is astronomically more expensive than facing periodic upgrades. For myself, I've been looking at upgrading CS for the first time in years, simply to allow me to move to Lion. The version I currently use (and have very little complaint with) is PowerPC based, and won't run without Rosetta. To date, I've seen little in the later versions of CS that give me any strong motivation to upgrade.

Are there improvements?
Sure.

Are they so groundbreaking that they're worth hundreds or thousands of dollars?
Maybe, but not obviously so.

So, if I were to look at my initial investment in CS years ago and divide it out by the number of months that I've been using it, I'd guess my monthly equivalent "subscription" price would be under $10 per month. By comparison, they want me to pay $50? I don't think so...

 

[Jessica Lares]

You guys whine too much. You can pay for Netflix, Spotify/Rdio/and probably spend like $10+ a month on iPhone/iPad apps, yet you aren't willing to pay $50 a month for a suite of apps with cloud storage included? Are you kidding me?

I really like the way Adobe is headed. Paying $600 a year is justifiable when you'll never have to worry about paying for a CS update ever again. Even better that I'm a student and only have to pay $360 a year. My tuition is much, much more expensive than that and I use Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and After Effects extensively. This is a great deal and I'll finally feel much better about myself since I'm finally giving money to a company that I've been pirating applications from for the last 15 years.

 

[dashiel]

As a "professional" that uses Adobe software for a living....personally I think the $600/year is a decent price. Would I like to pay less.....sure....who wouldn't....but $600 over an entire year to have access to EVERY Adobe app (with Lightroom coming this summer)....that's nice.

It’s not the price it’s the commitment. If anything amortizing the cost over 18 months makes the upgrade easier, but it feels like coercion. I don’t want all of Adobe’s apps. I don’t really want to get on a treadmill that inevitably leads to one you can’t get off. All you get for $50 a month is access, after a year if you decide the cloud isn’t for you there’s no option to transfer back to non-subscription.

I would upgrade pretty frequently when I was doing more Flash work and having the latest & greatest was a requirement as .FLAs were only backward compatible one version, but Photoshop/Illustrator are less demanding thanks to a file format that is mostly backwards compatible so I can skip a version or two and not have my workflow hampered. And while you’re 100% correct a single job will more than pay for the upgrade for a professional skipping a version or two is extra RAM, a new hard drive, money in the retirement account.

 

[tubular]

Sell me what I want, not what you want to sell me

You guys whine too much.

Possibly. But I was already a subscriber to Typekit before Adobe bought it, and I recommend it highly as an independent buy.

I'd like InDesign because Ive heard it's got a better interface for getting to special properties of OpenType fonts than Pages. Pages can get you there in terms of selecting lining figures and small caps and such, but it's buried and handled in a less than optimal way.

So sell me InDesign, Adobe. Sell me the program I want at a reasonable price, Adobe. Don't make me buy the whole damn family and tell me what a GREAT DEAL I've gotten on all the software I don't want and was involuntarily coerced into buying. If you want to rent it to me, fine, but again, don't make me rent the whole damn family and tell me what a GREAT DEAL the rental is on all those programs I don't want.

For now, I'll stick with Pages, although I'm hoping the next long-overdue refresh overhauls the interface to the OpenType typographic settings.

 

[cateye]

A year's worth of access to Adobe's entire software library for basically 1/4 of what I bring in on an average job? Done and done. Seriously, if some of you think this is in any way expensive, you need to revisit your business model. I pay more per year on ink for my proofing printers.

 

[dashiel]

You guys whine too much. You can pay for Netflix, Spotify/Rdio/and probably spend like $10+ a month on iPhone/iPad apps, yet you aren't willing to pay $50 a month for a suite of apps with cloud storage included? Are you kidding me?

I really like the way Adobe is headed. Paying $600 a year is justifiable when you'll never have to worry about paying for a CS update ever again. Even better that I'm a student and only have to pay $360 a year. My tuition is much, much more expensive than that and I use Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and After Effects extensively. This is a great deal and I'll finally feel much better about myself since I'm finally giving money to a company that I've been pirating applications from for the last 15 years.

That’s rich, a pirate lecturing professionals who subsidized her illegal use of these applications on what’s an acceptable price.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I could see this kind of pricing a decade or more ago, but after 15 years of paying hundreds of thousand of dollars to Adobe, I don't see hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of improvement. And now, with ever-increasing competition, these prices seem even more ridiculous. But, like Autodesk, I suppose Adobe will continue to overvalue its software as long as people keep paying the premium. Easy money.

Unless your entire business revolves around this software and this software only, it's a waste.

TPB, here I come.

 

[Takeo]

Software is installed and run locally. You are just paying for a subscription for the license..........

So I'm guessing that means you won't be able to launch Photoshop without an internet connection?

 

[cateye]

Unless your entire business revolves around this software and this software only, it's a waste.

But that's always been the case. This is not consumer or even pro-sumer software. It's for professionals. That it is out of reach for mere mortals both in terms of price and complexity is the last thing that anyone should be surprised about.

I mean, why buy the same Makita drill the contractor working on your house is using with a Craftsman would be fine for you?

 

[netnothing]

So I'm guessing that means you won't be able to launch Photoshop without an internet connection?

Nope...everything runs locally. Software will contact Adobe once every 30 days to validate the license. I hear there is a 7 day grace period as well.

-Kevin