jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Luminar has something new coming. I think they call it Generational AI. Unlike extensions, you must be connected to the cloud to use these new features. For $40, you have access for a year. For $50 and then $80 (I think) annually, you have constant access. I watched Jim Nix explain them, but I don't want to get into an annual payment for something I would seldom use.

neillaubenthal

I…like many o5er from what I read on my photo forums…have given up on Luminar. Instead of fixing the bugs in their products and only charging for significant major upgrades…they’ve essentially turned it into a subscription by having something “incredible and exciting” every year or less…and it’s something I rarely used anyway.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Is this about Luminar, Generational AI or subscriptions?

Companies with an effective staff have a constant, predictable payroll. Does a company bet their future on having such an exiting new product every year that all their customers buy it again? If half of the customers don't find it exciting the company has to send their employees away.

If a company uses a subscription model, the revenue is predictable. The staff can plan and execute product improvement.

The best companies are the ones with the best customers. Subscription customers are better. When a company replaces single purchase customers with subscribers, they are healthier.

Adobe pissed some people off and they migrated elsewhere. Adobe got through it and has more customers than ever before. Did their less valuable customers migrate to their competitors?

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

This +1

The software company I work for used the "permanent license" model for over 20 years. I spoke with an account rep yesterday who told me that long-term customers are now moving off the software, as it had "served its purpose." Moving forward, with new technologies (including cloud computing) the company has moved to a subscription model. Want to keep using the product? Renew your subscription.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Generational AI is available for one year for $40 or as a constant, annual subscription. Jim Nix said that it is different from an extension because it has to connect to Luminar, so they are charging for continued access to their servers, which is reasonable.

Single purchases were the norm until Adobe switched to subscription-based ownership a few years ago. It's not a question of survival; it's a question of increased profits. It would be interesting to see how the pay of CEOs has changed in companies that switched to subscriptions.

I'm not a big fan of Louis Rossman, but he made a good comment a while back. No matter what companies do to screw over customers, there will always be customers who defend them.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"it's a question of increased profits."

Show me a viable company that does not have health profits!

This reminds me of my mother-in-law bitching when Boeing reported an increased profit. That was the week before she cashed the pension check she got because she got even though my father-in-law was dead. Without profits, her pension check might have been in jepordy.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

There's a limit to "healthy." Boeing made huge profits after combining with M-D. They did that by cutting back on safety and engineering. They used to focus on making planes. Then they switched to making money.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My mother-in-law story pre dates your M-D story. Some say M-D took over Boeing, put their people in charge but kept the Boeing name.

As far as Adobe is concerned, I want them to make a profit! And, I want it to be consistent. If they don't customers will get products of declining capability.

(I'm writing as my computer is busy updating the apps in my Adobe plan. I will enjoy investigating new features. The Photoshop beta option is fascinating.)

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

The last thing I will defend is corporate profits and CEO compensation, but for many years now, since switching to the subscription model, the $10 per month Photographer's Plan (which was supposed to last one year, but after the protests, continues today) can hardly be called greedy, given what you get for that sum.

Surely you know that there have been complaints since day 1 about the cost of Adobe software, no matter how it was distributed, but since it is the best there is, it was also pirated at a rate higher than anyone else's. I believe that the subscription model was more about protecting Adobe from theft than profits, which were probably substantial already. The ability to control who can use the software and to insure that it is being purchased and not stolen, had to be a big part of the decision to go to subscriptions.

I have a grandson who is a graphic designer. He told me last year that his new employer wanted him to learn Affinity Photo so he could switch the company over to that program. My grandson was skeptical, but was obligated to do as he was instructed. I haven't asked about how that worked out, but the point is that for the cheapskates, there have always been alternatives. Still, Adobe and Photoshop remain the industry standard. There must be a reason for that.

That ridiculous bromide about "owning my software, not 'renting' it," makes me cringe every time someone mentions it. You never "owned" your software, you bought a license to use it under the terms of use which were very specific about what you could do with it (and was also a legal contract.) If you owned it, you could sell it, give it away, or install it on thirty machines at your company for the cost of one copy. The problem of course, was that people were doing just that, in violation of their contract, and copyright law. To expect Adobe to do nothing to protect themselves makes no sense at all.

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

Me too. This just their latest way to force people to buy the next shiny thing without fixing the problems they have had since luminar 1. The new features are already in Photoshop and don’t cost anymore. Don’t waste your money on skylum. Over promise and under deliver

Klickitatdave Loc: Seattle Washington

Those new features are in the Beta version of Photoshop so it will be interesting to see if they will charge for them when it is actually released.

Dennis833 Loc: Australia

I like Luminar Neo but I'm not interested in any of this new Ai stuff and I already own software that is better than any of their extensions.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I will be thoroughly surprised if they do charge for more features. The pattern from the beginning is that you pay $10 a month for use and an ongoing stream of new features and improvements. In other words, that's what subscribers are paying for.

More likely is that someday the $10 will be $12. No product ever stays at the same price forever.

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

Have you ever seen adobe to charge for features? Skylum Neo took a year to put a crop function then they started taking functions already in Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, On1, Affinity Photo etc and charging for them. They are the only one that has that sales model and it stinks. Then take into account they never fix problems just bring out the next newest thing..

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

I've heard that the computational power for the AI stuff is incredibly expensive to produce, and that is why it is so low res right now. Most seem to believe that when it goes mainline and is high enough resolution for commercial work that there will have to be some sort of credits and payment to support it. I just hope they don't price us hobbyists out of the market.