sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Not fear, BUT I think it is too expensive, you never own it, and who cares if you do not get upgrades every month? I dislike any form of autopay or to a lesser degree paying in advance for something I may or may not get. I will use my stand alone LR6 until I think it is time to upgrade. I am pretty sure by the time I choose to upgrade, there will be even better choices offered other than Adobe software rental. For those signed up for the "how much can you afford to pay each month" plan, I wish you all the best. It's just not for me.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Having read to date, all the responses:
I probably shouldn’t have said “strongly object to” rather than fear, although some of the posts I have see it does seem like fear for some. I think this is a good summary of the objections to subscription-ware:
(1) don’t want frequent updates, prefer to buy product once and use with infinite license don’t care if software gets stale.
(2) Resent having to pay regular, fees would like option for (1) above
(3) Misconceptions about the meaning of creative cloud
(4) Misconceptions about what happens if subscription expires
(5) Worry that subscription company will hold data hostage and raise prices
(6) Don’t need PS and feel cost is too high for LR alone.

BebuLamar

I keep very old software running in DOS. I do that because I have to because in this case I would much rather pay for new version if available. Actually the new version is available for $500,000.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

That is a very good question. For me I did use the LR range-adjust feature and liked it. I will use that in my workflow in the future.

But I also did notice some bug fixes, can’t list them all but I remember a Lightroom printing problem disappeared, which was important to me.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Thanks for all the responses.

My schedule is packed until after Christmas. I may not response much but I will catch up after Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to all.

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

That's a lot better than my reply.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I don't "fear" it....

I don't LIKE it for several reasons.

1. There is nothing to stop them increasing the price in the future (think about cable TV). It currently works out to cost about the same as what I spent to maintain LR and PS with occasional upgrades. But that could change any time Adobe feels they have enough of a monopoly to do so.
2. A subscription is more susceptible to manipulation... for example Apple is currently being accused of and sued for deliberately "slowing down" their older phones to push people to buy new ones.
3. I don't like automatic updates.... too often there have been glitches causing problems (including some with LR CC). I am not an "early adopter" of critical (to me) s'ware OR hardware... I let other people do the "beta testing" and work the bugs out on behalf of the manufacturer... waiting to buy cameras, software, etc., after they've had a little time to prove themselves. (Still running Windows 7... am only now considering a Win 10 upgrade.)
4. There is no good reason NOT to offer a customers the choice of subscription OR perpetual license, since both are now delivered via download most of the time.
5. When they were only offered as an expensive, perpetually licensed software, there was some exclusivity using Lightroom and especially Photoshop. Now there are millions of "noobies" using them who are in way, WAY over their heads and flooding the forums with basic questions (rather than buying books and taking classes to learn to use the s'ware). Many of those "users" would be better served with simpler and less expensive, perpetually licensed s'ware such as Elements, which actually does all they ever need. It's this massive expansion of customer base, driving their products out to customers who will never really make full use of and don't really need them, that has driven HUGE profits for Adobe. At some point that cash flow will level off and, to keep their stock holders happy, Adobe will have to raise subscription prices. (Note: It would be interesting to know how many LR/PS CC subscribers are first time users and, of those, how many don't renew after the first year because they found the s'ware was overwhelming or didn't meet their needs very well for other reasons. I'm sure Adobe won't tell us, though. )
6. Adobe "says" they don't plan to increase the cost of the CC subscriptions. But they've already lied to us about LR. A year or two ago Adobe reps were telling us there was no plan to go subscription-only with Lightroom... that there would be LR 7, LR 8, etc. Now they've reneged on that promise.

I own my camera gear.
I own my desktop computer and two laptop computers, and purchase other software and hardware for use with them.
I own my cars and choose not to lease them, even though that's an option.
I currently rent a place to live, but that feels a lot like flushing money down the toilet, so I will be buying and moving at the earliest opportunity.

It's nice to have option to rent a specialized lens or a car or place to live, when it makes more sense to do so. But in all those cases it's an option to buy, instead.

But I keep coming back to the most basic thing of all. Today most s'ware is downloaded, rather than distributed on disk... regardless whether it's purchased or rented and eliminating the costs, delays and possible waste from packaging, distribution and retail outlet sales. But all that's largely been eliminated now and the costs to the manufacturer are largely the same, whether the s'ware is perpertually licensed or offered via subscription. So there's really no good reason for Adobe NOT to offer option to buy or rent their s'ware....and leave the choice up to their customers!

After 20+ years using Photoshop and as Lightroom user since the first version was introduced... I'm a bit sad to say that Adobe will probably be losing me as a customer.

thephotoman Loc: Rochester, NY

There is no way Adobe can hold your images hostage. The only exception is perhaps the new cloud based plan. But the regular LR and PS plan the images never leave your computer. I think as long as you have Bridge you can still see the adjustments.

Yankeepapa6 Loc: New York City

WHAT!!!!!???? Everyone here isn't a PRO????? This is beyond the pale. I'm excluding the Pro BS Artists.

Bison Bud

I can't really add much here, but I do indeed deeply dislike renting virtually anything and really don't much care for the direction that software appears to be headed. I could live with rent to own, where the software is eventually paid for at some agreed point, but having to pay again every month, in perpetuity, simply isn't going to work for me and that's not likely to ever change. Call it fear if you like, but I see it more like spending my money wisely.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Agree, just another pile of misinformation

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

similar situation and my thoughts too!

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

Selene03

No one really needs my opinion, but if you don't want to pay for the Adobe subscription, you don't have to. If you want to keep on using the older version or PSE, that's fine. That's how capitalism works, in the end, the consumer can chose what they want to buy. For years I used PSE because I couldn't afford photoshop. I tried other software, but for various personal reasons, I have preferred Adobe products. More recently, I have been able to get it from work, although I did buy a stand alone version of photoshop and lightroom before that. There are a lot of things I like about the cc version, so I will continue to use it even if I have to subscribe to it myself. I use a lot of the new features, and I have appreciated how quickly they have updated camera raw when new cameras have come out. But, to each is own. I really don't get this fearing subscription software though I do understand the concern over the impact of licensing it on tweaking it for your own purposes. I think though that we always licensed it and agreed to the terms of the license. I could be wrong though.