Back in May, Adobe announced that Creative Suite 6 would be the last time licenses would be on offer for sale, and that Creative Cloud would be replacing the license concept as a whole. This means that, rather than a one-off purchases, Adobe users now have to pay a monthly subscription in order to use the applications they know and love.
In theory, the idea is quite remarkable. As described on the Adobe website and on the Creative Cloud Facebook page, Adobe users now have every application in the CS suite at their fingers – gone are the days of purchasing separate suites depending on whether you’re a designer or a photographer or a developer. One of Adobe’s ideas is to nourish and develop new talent – so if you’re a photographer interesting in dabbling in the world of web design, then subscribing to Creative Cloud makes it that much easier. Purchasing CC also gives unparalled access to the latest software updates and features, without having to wait for the next version of CS to come out.
However faithful Adobe users are understandably disgruntled by the latest mandatory development. Whilst it’s easy enough for Adobe to claim that they are, quite simply, granting global access to their applications at a slashed fee (let’s face it, Adobe software is unbelievably pricey), it is very apparent that subscribers will be paying more than what they once did in the long run. If you’re a graphic designer and you just want access to Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, chances are you’re not entirely interested in the package Creative Cloud offers. The fact that Creative Cloud isn’t available for multi-computer use only adds to frustrations, which are quickly piling up.
If Adobe had listened to its clientforce – and maybe introduced Creative Cloud at a slower speed, rather than catch everyone unawares – then maybe it wouldn’t be facing the negative backlash it is being forced to endure. The fact that Creative Cloud has already been pirated – one of the vulnerabilities Adobe was hoping to quench by phasing out CS – speaks volumes, and only goes to show that it won’t be long before they will be forced to address this issue.
This is a total fail on the part of Adobe. In theory, there are benefits. In practice, who wants such a healthy bill to pay when our need/usage of the software is variable and the bill becomes a fixture in our lives. The reality is we’ll hang on to our old version longer (I used Adobe CS1 from 2004 until 2012) until I upgraded to CS5.5. I’m happy to hang on to CS 5.5 for another decade and wait for competitive options.
Adobe, give us our choice of the old model, for goodness sake. This is such an inconsiderate move on your part. Legions of users like myself didn’t ask for this, and you’ve destroyed a lot of loyalty and good faith.
This will be a nail in the coffin for Adobe. I am already looking for alternatives to the Creative Suite.My relationship with Adobe of thwety-three years is over.
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