marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I learned this week that Adobe may be on a mission to move PhotoShop and the other CS suite components to a monthly subscription based "cloud" service instead of buying it for a fixed price and working independently.

They're already starting the process with a new website building software named MUSE that I've been a beta tester for. Instead of buying the software outright when it goes public soon, I already know that I have to subscribe to an Adobe member group for $9 a month (you only pay this once per month even though you are allowed to subscribe to as many pro Adobe products as you want at additional fees). MUSE will be $14 per month. I think not! That would be $276 a year. Imagine the cost of that if you want to keep using it for many years!

Every beta tester in their forum is raising holy hell about doing this but the rumor also came forth that PhotoShop and other pro products are soon to follow. I doubt they'll do it to Elements, LightRoom, or Adobe Reader consumer products. So it might be best to stick to Elements until we see if this happens.

Personally, there's no way I would ever pay $60 or $80 a month to use PhotoShop CS5 even though it's a fabulous package. Watch out because I assume Adobe will sneakily modify and update your current copy of PhotoShop CS5 so it must be linked to them continuously as a registered network member and automatically deduct monthly payments from you or else the software will stop dead until you pay monthly. That's what they did to the beta MUSE v6 copy I installed on my laptop Monday. It won't start without me registering and signing in. The older MUSE in my tower hasn't been updated yet so I hope it still works as it did previously.

I'm sure subscription for PhotoShop CS5 will turn into $500 to $800 a year if they go that way. The official Adobe statement about this "cloud" uproar is that using this subscription method allows them to update the software faster and easier. Actually it doesn't change anything because the updates still have to come to your computer just like they do now. I'm guessing they think we're all idiots waiting to be fleeced and they own the market and we will have to go along with this.

Do I sense an Adobe "New Coke Formula" fiasco in the works that is going to hurt them badly and open the door for competitors to knock them off as King of the Hill?

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

I heard you will either be able to do a one time purchase of the program or do a monthly subscription and get all the upgrades as they become available. So you will always have the latest version of CS.

With the one time purchase, you won't get the upgrades.

As per the price of the program, CS5 is priced at over $600 so if they charge $50 a month for their subscription, it will be just like a payment plan anyhow, it might open the door for more people to purchase it.

PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North

Start a petition on www.change.org

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Except that the payments never stop. That makes it much worse than a payment plan. So you will pay $1000 in two years, $1500 in three years, etc. I personally don't want to pay Adobe $1500 for CS5 worth $600 or $150 at student discount pricing.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

As a non-professional, I'll just use PaintShop Pro x4 and that will be my financial protest that they'll hear and feel clearly if many people do the same.

joanef

So what do we do when our Internet connection goes down, or slows to a crawl? I think it is OK for thoses that want to use it for a month or two, but not forever. A horrible idea.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

From what I understand you will still be able to purchase the "normal" package at a one time price. People that are in business will be able to write off the montly subscription on their taxes and there are those that are not professional that will sign up just because they have a need to have the latest and best.

I personally won't be signing up for a CS subscription, unless it's under $20 a month (which I highly doubt) and I won't even be purchasing an upgrade on CS5. There really isn't a need for this MWAC, lmao.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I agree.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Since the website designer software (that really isn't that good) is $14 a month, I'm sure CS5 will be at least 4 times as much, and don't forget the other $9 a month network membership. I'd bet that CS5 will be at least $60 a month if not more.

They also have their claws in you then and can raise the subscription to any amount they want and you can't refuse. If they raise it to $80 a month they lose some people but pros will stay. If they raise it to $100 a month, they lose some more but high rate pros will still stay. The software could become so elite at $200 a month that most of us couldn't afford it if we wanted to but Adobe only has to deal with power users and no more amateurs.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

Let's not lose our heads... Adobe will do whatever is necessary to make money, but pricing themselves out of potential revenue (however small) is not likely. Don't worry, they will take care of us... :-)

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Your first perception is true: Adobe will do whatever is necessary to make (maximum) money. Corporations look at the bottom line only and they don't care about us. If subscription causes 3X to 4X as much money to flow in from a single copy of PhotoShop CS5 or 6 or whatever, that's what we are going to get. Even if they lost 50% of users their income will still more than double.
Profit is always first priority.

Cloud is a dream for software manufacturers, MP3 and movie distributors, and anybody else who doesn't want the product in the hands of users but desire temporary licensing instead. Adobe has figured out how to massively profit from it and I believe it's just a matter of time - and not much time.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

I was saying this somewhat sarcastically... "they will take care of us..." ha ha... If you've read any of my other posts about Adobe, you know that I don't care for the company much (along with Apple). However, I cannot deny that they hold the keys for many photographers and graphic designers. Frankly, I hope people are outraged. Yet, I don't think Adobe will completely cut the little guy loose. There will always be a market for Elements or a watered down version of CS. Either way, I could care less. I don't hold all of my eggs in an Adobe basket. :-)

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Yes on the market for Elements. But I'd bet that after someone who has used CS for years is cut loose or cuts themselves loose, they won't ever buy another Adobe product if there is a suitable competitive package.

Opus Loc: South East Michigan

This is just my opinion so don't go crazy. One of two things will happen. The first being that in two years Adobe figures out that they have alienated their customer base and drops the cloud idea. The second is that other companies swoop in with programs that are very competitive and steal Adobes customers. This might be why Corel bought Bibble Pro.

time and place Loc: Oly Penn, WA.

ACDSee and Coral would just love seeing Adobe make that move!