CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Is it not amusing that on this forum we see so many people terrified that someone will use their images (I have no idea why that would happen) and then when a company DOES see a way to protect THEIR copyright, the same people get their panties in a twist. just an observation.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

The propaganda I received said Photoshop alone would be $19.95 a month; I wrote Adobe to see if Lightroom would be included, but there has been no reply.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

What does Adobe cost? maybe if it were more reasonable it would not be such a target for hacking. There is no way that I could justify the expense of Adobe, even if I did not have very workable alternatives, but then I'm not a fan of heavy modification in post,
Bob.

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

Following Microsoft pattern of support strategy, it is predictable that Adobe will stop supporting CS6 a few years after iCloud has won enough recruits. But yes, for the time being buying CS6 and staying with it until support is withdrawn is not a bad idea.

There has been much misinformation even among those believing to be fully informed. The blame for this goes to deceptive—not false—advertising. Adobe offers an iCloud subscription for (rounding it) $10.00 per month, saying that it is a 50% saving for the *first year*. In ensuing years, of course, the monthly rate becomes $20.00 even it is not stated explicitly. One may expect that 20 monthly rate to be raised in future years according to the inflation factors and business decisions by Adobe. At $20.00 per month, this is $360 for an eighteen month period, the approximate interval between previous PS upgrades. This is an increase from the previous $200 per upgrade to the $360 for the same interval, a good business for Adobe but not for the regular user.

As for people with not continuous access to the Internet, the application that they activated for that month, can be used without the Internet, but once a month they will need Internet access to reactivate the license unless they paid for the whole year as most probably will do

fidophotog Loc: Lincolnton GA

Will Lightroom 5 be included with this cloud crap from Adobe? If you don't keep up your subscription to it, you lose all your file structure/catalogs right? Thanks for any info on these two questions. Haven't been able to find answers to these questions.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

There's a world of difference between buying software for a business vs buying it for a hobby. For me, photography is a complete negative, financially. It's like those one-day workshops that cost $500. It's hard for an amateur to justify that, but a pro can write it off his taxes, and what he learns can probably help him earn more.

Ziza Loc: USA

Here are some answers. I believe the answer about Photoshop (cancelling subscription) will also apply to Lightroom if you choose the Creative Cloud route.


You can find more questions and answers here.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/05/08/Adobe-photoshop-cc

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

Captain C here is a link to the Adobe Creative Cloud site and prices. There was no mention of a $10 dollar a month fee. the cheapest I could see was $19 for a single version plan. Can you show me where the $10 price was? I would go for that.
Also for those of you that do not know you download the product of your choosing and install it on your machine just like before. The software checks monthly to see if your subscription is valid. There is some cloud storage that comes with the deal but you can also store it on your own machine or how ever you have always done it in the past. here is a link to the Adobe page with the pricing and what you get for your money.
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud/buying-guide.html

Ziza Loc: USA

The price of $10/month is for the first year ONLY. It is a promotion price -- 50% off.

http://www.adobe.com/products/discount-software-coupons.html

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

I think we have a chance of an movement here on the UHH maybe if we all boycott Adobe and don't buy any of their newer products it may take their cloud away (pun intended)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I wonder what they mean by "limited access to services" for the single product.

Ziza Loc: USA

Check this out.

http://www.change.org/petitions/adobe-systems-incorporated-eliminate-the-mandatory-creative-cloud-subscription-model#share

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Apparently, you can do that for just one year. I thought they might require you to go for two years if you get one at half price.

If I were to sign up for the $10/month plan and stop after a year, what would I have available to use after twelve months?

You can sign up for 30 days free.

EDIT: Found it. If you discontinue the subscription, you will not be able to use the program, although any files you have stored with Adobe will be available, and you will be able to uninstall the Adobe program(s) without a problem.

BigGWells Loc: Olympia, WA

I found this to be some good facts....long but worth the read.

http://www.whattheduck.net/strip/1382

When Adobe came out with Creative Cloud it was an alternative to buying CS6. For some it saved them money, but not everyone. Just one year later and Adobe has decided that the Creative Cloud (CC) is the way to go. They’re killing off permanent licenses and offering the full suite for $50 a month or $20 a month for a program like Photoshop CC all by itself. If you’re a user who needs the full creative suite and needs to keep up to date the $50 a month they charge for the full thing is actually a good deal; those aren’t the people who are unhappy about Creative Cloud.

Adobe says this gets you a better experience, cloud storage (although they give you a pathetic amount and who doesn’t already have 5 cloud storage options by now anyway?), and some degree of synchronization across devices. But what’s really going on? A huge amount of arguing apparently.
What’s the problem?

The switch to CC only is not without its issues, however there seems to be a lot of people overreacting or making wild claims that aren’t based in reality. That’t not to say there aren’t some rational concerns about the increased cost for some users and the loss of software availability if one discontinues monthly payment. Both of these affect me because in the past I was a version skipper. I upgraded every second or third version which at $200 an upgrade is much cheaper than having to pay $20 a month ($240 a year) when I was buying an upgrade no sooner than every three two to three years or so. Adobe was already cracking down on version skippers, making the upgrade availability less generous (the CS6 upgrade required CS5 before a public outcry forced Adobe to change that, for instance), but now they’ve effectively killed it off entirely.

There are also some rather extreme claims being made and some are predicting that Adobe will take this even further. Lightroom hasn’t gone CC only but it sounds like Adobe is thinking of making Lightroom CC a reality, some of what they said makes it sound to me like that will be the better version. Could Lightroom eventually become CC only? Maybe, but there are some even stranger ideas out there. Some people are running around and panicking and making claims such as how Adobe will release future PSD formats that only CC subscribers can use, or that you can no longer get Lightroom without subscribing (which is not at all true).

After enough time had passed to wind everyone up I managed to stumble across some even more interesting things. This has gotten so blown out of proportion that responses from well known photographers range from Scott Bourne’s example of being ridiculously out of touch to Scott Kelby sounding like a thinly veiled Adobe shill. Adobe themselves have even taken the time to respond to the kerfuffle but it hasn’t done anything to calm everyone’s nerves. The Photoshop experience so many have enjoyed for so long has changed, and for some it’s likely going to be over because they just can’t afford it anymore.
This will help stop piracy though, right?

A lot of people have claimed that Adobe is doing this to combat piracy, however, according to Adobe the answer is no:

While service options that connect to our servers are inherently less prone to piracy, once a user downloads software to their computer the piracy threat is the same as for our perpetual products.

The reason behind the subscription-only move is the logistics of supporting two sets of software. The last 12 months of development was brutal. And there were results we were not happy with. We have decided to focus on the CC products.

Although Scott Bourne claims that everyone will hate this because it puts an end to piracy (which itself is a ridiculous argument, he’s the only one I’ve seen mention it), I don’t see any reason why we should believe this will have any impact on piracy at all. If it does anything it will probably drive more people to pirate Adobe’s software because those who were on the edge and could afford the occasional upgrade before are left without the option.

From a technical standpoint, the claims that this will hinder piracy don’t seem to be grounded in any sort of reality. You still download an installer from Adobe, and you install it like anything else, the difference is in how it checks for a license and activates itself. It has to keep doing this every so often to confirm it is still being paid for. All the pirates need to is shut off that call home and trick the software in to thinking it is active (which they’ve done before time and time again). I can’t say when this will happen, but I can guarantee it will. There may be some delay after each build is released but that’s no different from how it has been. Maybe a year from now you can look at your favorite torrent site and see Photoshop CC of different vintages to choose from based on which build was pirated when.

It’s not really a matter of if, only when.

I could rant and rave further on how most anti-piracy measures only punish the paying customer, but I really don’t want that here. Put simply though, when owning the software or owning the DVD or Blu-Ray involves worrying about DRM and licensing that may actually get in your customer’s way, you’re making the pirated experience the superior one. In this case I don’t believe piracy was Adobe’s main goal, they simply believe they can make more money this way.
What now?

There are some good suggestions being made about how Adobe could let you buy out your license and give you a stable version to keep for as long as you like, but I don’t see that happening easily. I think it’s going to take a lot to get Adobe to change to a model that’s more friendly to their less well off consumers, or those who don’t need every latest version. At least they’ve acknowledged that they’re not offering a photographer friendly CC option although I’m not expecting whatever they might come up with to be any closer financially to what many are used to.

I started using Corel PhotoPaint and Draw in the mid to late 90s before switching to Adobe’s software. The Corel stuff seemed more approachable at the time but I recall thinking Adobe’s was more capable. Maybe that’s not true anymore, but I may be finding out down the road as I explore other options. I figure I’ll be fine with CS5 and Lightroom for a good while (as long as Adobe doesn’t screw Lightroom up). For the other companies out there this could prove to be a great opportunity as people seek asylum from Adobe’s new pricing and licensing shenanigans.


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Izzy

Would never want to rent a program, just their way of getting more and more money.