Mercer Loc: Houston, TX, USA

I recently acquired a used copy of Lightroom 4 from a Hogger. We both agreed that it might not load, so I have no problem at all with the seller.

I loaded up and was presented with a jack-booted "offer" from Adobe to spend a nice chunk of change to "upgrade" to Lightroom 5 ($79, to be exact). Nothing I did would allow me to use the Lightroom 4 I had purchased. Contact with Adobe's website to get further info resulted in hours of elevator music and Adobe ads. This approach to marketing is onerous to me. It's not the amount of money. It's the principle.

This situation takes me back to the early days of computing and a company called Broderbund, publisher of a number of useful programs. Their approach to software protection:

1. Treat the software as you might treat a book purchase. You May not copy the software. But, like a book, you can sell it, donate it, loan it, rent it, etc. You own the software just like you own a book.

2. Apparently, the copy-protects in the software prevented any copying. If you wanted your own copy, you had to buy one.

I compare this to Adobe's greed, and shudder at the cloudy future this may inflict on computer users.

By the way, if anyone knows how to circumvent adobe and use the software I purchased, please advise. I will respect your anonymity.

By the way, Lightroom 5 is available now from Sam's Club and Costco, but considering everything so far, I would rather offer Adobe the famous three-finger salute. :thumbdown:

Steve_m Loc: Southern California

Adobe software comes with a CD key or serial number, which activates the software. Some software can be activates on more than one workstation (Photoshop Elements can be activated on two computers). If you want to use the software on any additional computer, you have to deactivate the software from the original installation. The activation/deactivation is under Help icon. It looks like your seller didn't deactivated his software installation.

Mercer Loc: Houston, TX, USA

thanks, Steve; I'll try it. :thumbup:

lightchime Loc: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Perhaps someone owes an apology to Adobe!!

Mercer Loc: Houston, TX, USA

Perhaps I do. We'll see. I suspect I am beset by holdover angst because of the continuing broadsides of upgrade commands sent all too often by adobe. Maybe I am tired of trying to figure out their non-intuitive, complex software that is almost impossible for my old eyes to read because of sub-agate type size. Your message reminds me that these are separate issues, so perhaps an apology is in order. Like I said, we'll see. Thanks for the post.

:oops: :oops: :oops:

lightchime Loc: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Yes, we often have difficulty separating issues. Because I started with LightRoom in version 2, I have learned enough that it is now intuitive. They have added things and changed things and have increased the difficulty of the learning curve. I guess that is progress.

Even the behemoth known as Photoshop becomes more intuitive as you work with it. Sort of like driving a new, complex automobile on unknown roads. It gets easier - even in auto, you have to know what you are doing.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Or maybe not...

I just bought a used copy of PS CS3 on ebay. It cannot be registered to me until the original owner fills out some forms, and I fill out some forms, and we send all these back to adobe. This is not current software, so why must we jump through all the hoops, just to get it into my name?

Also, I purchased this specifically to qualify for the $10 deal for photographers on CC. Apparently, it is an educational edition, and doesn't qualify. Nowhere in any of the promotional stuff that I read did it say *anything* about this restriction. If it did, I would have at least ensured before purchase that it was non-educational.

Given that my financial situation precludes me from *ever* paying $600+ for software, it seems that Adobe has 2 choices. They can accept my $10 every month for the foreseeable future, or they can have $0, and I will be stuck on the old versions. I am going to try and persuade them, once we eventually get it registered to me, but I am not holding my breath.