Photoshop CC: Adobe responds to reaction

Arrogant move. It's hard to undo the "arrogance label" once it has been self applied. Ask Microsoft.

Take a look at that smug bustard Winston and tell me Adobe is looking out for its customers. WRONG. Winston and his pals are looking out for their stock options. Adobe makes 1B in profits on 4B in sales annually and even thats not enough for Winston and his friends.

Winston thinks you should pay him more money more often so he can offer you swell new things like camera shake reduction. Well Winston, most of us learned how to avoid camera shake long ago. Winston and his pals want you to use their "cloud" so they can hijack your files later and hold them ransom - "Sorry folks looks like we'll have to start charging you for that cloud storage..."

Personally, I hope Winston and his friends choke on this idea. I hope he's back here in six months apologizing to his former customers just like the geniuses at NetFlix had to do.

Me. I'll wait and see who else shows up in the marketplace to fill the vacuum that Winston and his pals at Adobe have created with their greed and hubris.

Btw, why under this sun average photographer need a feature of Photoshop like 3D is a million dollar question to me ... If they have in many cases no idea what is ... And how to use it.

Therefore this concept of monthly payment is shenanigan ... Period.

Twice the price for those who want to stay up to date (vs. 18 month upgrade), no future after CS6 for those who are fine with less features or a slower upgrade path. If Adobe really can pull that off say hello to a hefty monthly bill soon, because a lot of others will follow.

After aggressively building up a monopoly for years, great way to make warez cool again, congrats.

Guess MY CS6 will serve me a loooong time. If I really need a new feature I might rent it for a month, so nothing to lose.

The older CS6 gets, the more they can (and will) ask for rent. On the other hand, alternatives have a couple of years to get good enough (no need to match), ages in this business. Interesting race Adobe, let’s talk again 2016.

Corel has already issued a public statement regarding the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription-based model today!

Here's the link to the full CorelDraw.com blog statement:
http://corelblogs.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/corel-is-all-about-giving-users-choice/

Note to Adobe: Your competitors are loving your move to Creative Cloud!!!!

I hope this cloud-bs will disappear into thin air soon! A pro needs direct access to his tools and data without compromises. That means that it's essential to own a stable and proofen software and not to struggle with a new and untested version from the cloud.

And I had thought they abolished slavery - just to reapply it in a different way these days?!

How about going a two-way route:
Option 1: the traditional way for those preferring it
Option 2: the new "heralded" way for those attracted to it

That would be so much more honest and customer friendly.

The end of an era

Get a load of this guy! He said they expected an even MORE negative response!

Then why did you do it if you knew your user base was going to revolt???

For those who like the idea of subscribing monthly for Photoshop, here is your problem (does not apply to those who have Photoshop on discs). You create several photo composites, designs, or paintings. Then you decide for some reason (financially or whatever) to stop subscribing. Result, you are done with those files! Did you convert them to Jpegs from PSDs so you can put them on the web, or e-mail them to friends. NO, then no web or attachments! Are some files still in the PSD format; they'll sit on your harddrive without access.
You have friends who like your composites, designs, or paintings, but they would like a small change here or there, no Photoshop, no change!

For those that have Photoshop discs and use the new Photoshop CC features for many months, then you stop subscribing. What happens if you want to change those CC features. You have a previous version of Photoshop and can access the files but no ability to change any CC features. The scenario goes on and on.

Dear Adobe, I will now use pirated versions of your program. I'd far rather continue to pay for my upgrades when I want to upgrade, but if you think I'm paying for the use of any application on a monthly basis, you're nuts. If EVERY application I use in my professional music business became a pay-by-month model, I would have to pay more than I make in some months.

Sorry this model won't work. I won't support it and I'll try to undermine it anyway I can.

As a professional, I'm shocked to write this, but I will NOT become a cash cow on a monthly basis to any company for the use of their applications. EVER.

Just some idle thought here. So CS6, can I use it on both home workstation and on my laptop?

I currently have Windows 8 64 Bit on workstation, Windows 7 64 Bit on laptop (but soon to go to Windows 8 64 bit), and am planning to purchase a MacBook Pro whenever the new ones come out. It would be ideal if I could run it on up to 3 machines.

What is the maximum number of computers I can run CS6 on?

No, not CC. Here's my thinking: If I buy CS, it will be the first and last Adobe package I buy. Windows 8 will probably be in service for a few years. I could use CS for 4 or 5 years until alternatives show up, so even $1800 to $2400 would be justifiable, because I would still have the software and no monthly alimony payments to Adobe.

I'll do just about anything to avoid alimony.

I know of so many pro photographers out there with illegal copies of photoshop/lightroom , some of the same said photographers get their knickers in a twist about copyright theft, perhaps Adobe are feed up with the volume of software theft and are protecting their investment!

It's terrible for such a powerfull and pleasant software, but starting from now, the more you wait to replace Lightroom, the bigger will be the work to do in your next raw software. As it is clear that the future of Lightroom is in the cloud, you'd better stop immediately using it (and every other Adobe software).

In theory Adobe could charge $9.99/month (or whatever), FOREVER and never provide any new features. Isn't this at odds with the normal way consumers buy products? i.e. Look at the product, see what features it has, then pay for it if they think its worth buying?

Adobe... can you spell DONE ????

I'm done with Adobe photo products. Most plugins can be used in other software that costs far less and has nearly all the capabilities of PS that I need... and I don't need PS to make a living with PS so take your SAS (Software as a Service) model and pitch it to your big commercial accounts and full-time pros. You won't be successful at doing this to hobbyist / freelancers....

BUT... I'M SURE YOU KNEW THIS AND DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THAT MARKET (US) TO BEGIN WITH !!! SO... Thanks for throwing the rest of us overboard.

Since the only people who can justify spending $20-$50/ month for THE REST OF THEIR LIVES just to access PS are professionals who actually make money off of it and so can justify the expense, this means Adobe no longer wants amateurs to use their software. But since all professionals started off as amateurs where does Adobe think any more new PS professionals will come from since virtually all amateurs will now be switching over to alternative products?

Adobe sees themselves losing the lower end of their market to Instagram-style instant filter systems so they are optimizing revenue from the upper end. It's a gamble but it might work.
Personally, as a user from PS 5 through 11 (CS4) I'd switch down to PSE before I ever went to the cloud subscription.

The move by Adobe is wrong on so many levels:
- When subscription pricing increases we would have no choice but to upgrade.
- Adobe is using their market dominance to force through a preferred business model, which for many reasons will burden many of their customers. I see this as being ethically dubious.
- I'm usually cautious in upgrading software, as I want to wait until there's good feedback about stability and features. Having relatively regular and unexpected updates, which may include bugs, can affect my business.
- The hobbyist, amateur and part time professional would find the long term cost prohibitive.
- As a travelling journalist, who sometimes works in remote locations, the need to connect to the internet is sometimes impossible, except with $10/MB satellite phone.
- Adobe isn't offering us an alternative.
- I doubt they spoke to many of their customers before up with their hairbrained idea.

Adobe, you are denying your customers choice and you have lost my trust.

With our collective gazes fixed on the Korean peninsula, none of us expected that it would in fact be Adobe who would drop the bomb ...

$30 a month if you want to have a possibility to opt out when you want?! I'd say they're joking, but evidently not.

Adobe used to be a consumer-friendly company, but like so many other companies the guys in charge nowadays don't care for us small people, a sad state of affairs indeed.

Ha...I love this guy!!! Does he seriously think the added value of a Camera Shake reduction filter is worth paying $20/month...FOREVER?!! OK, I know that's hardly the only thing he said, but is was NUMBER ONE in his defense of this ill-concieved subscription scheme Adobe hoped to sneak by the photo community. You can dress this pig up in all the silk you have in your closet, but it's still a Goddamned Pig!!!

I've used Adobe for as long as I've edited my own photos, and those photos used by the magazines I've worked for as photographer, editor, editor-in-chief (in all, about 20 years), but, evidently, we small fish are not welcome any more!

Just hope Apple doesn't start with a similar scheme - maybe a cloud-based OS?! If you pay a subscription you can use your OS, and software, otherwise you're deleted?!

BIG BROTHER IS SEEING YOU, and is getting better and better at deciding if you're welcome or not.

I use Photoshop at work and at my home studio - cs5 at home, cs6 at work. I was thinking I'd update at home but now I'm thinking I'll just stay with v5 and wait a few years.

I think a lot of people will do the same. I don't need the latest and greatest, cs5 works VERY well and will for a long time.

Anybody remember Quark XPress, which DOMINATED page layout in the recent past?

Anybody still use it?

Anybody?

Good bye Adobe! Enjoy your new business model, but don't expect me to spend money on your extortion a.k.a. subscription model.
As numerous posters elaborated, subscriptions do work only for people who need a software on a regular/daily basis. And just imagine a pro who needs to deliver a photo product IN TIME and just at that moment the internet connection crashes, the Adobe licence servers have downtime etc and because of that he fails to process and deliver his photos.
I will support any company that is going to offer offline products for purchase, Adobe has just lost all of my sympathy and my money

I found it... interesting... how he kept talking about Lightroom, practically the only Adobe product not much affected by this change. Almost like he was trying to draw attention away from the CC pricing changes.

For me, my costs increase by $0 because I keep using Pixelmator. :) Or maybe go get that old friend of mine I haven't seen in years, PaintShop Pro. Because the advantage of all this negative reaction to Adobe's changes is that the many alternatives to their products can start to gain some visibility - finally...

The thing I dislike about the subscription model is that you have nothing when the term ends. No way to leverage the training and skill set you've built with a software package during the subscription term. It's almost a waste of money even for a company when you consider the time and resources you put into your employees to learn/master a particular software package.

If captial budgets are cut (as happens all too often in this economy), said company may find itself having to drop these subscriptions and other SLA support, essentially winging it for a while using the software they currently have in-house.

In this subscription model, their Adobe-skilled resources are up a creek because their tools just deactivated. If those resources are mission critical (as in a tech shop or design firm), the business simply cannot continue if they are dependent on any of the CC apps as part of their day-to-day process - after the 30 day expiration period.

Adobe believes many/most CS photoshop users will sign up for CC. Ha! When this bubble head thinking pops, Adobe will have a GIANT financial hole in their 2014/15 P&Ls, and mud smeared faces. Netflix redux.

Gataux GIMP.

I found this comment interesting:

"there's not a lot of photography-specific value in our subscription products"

So ... they know they are screwing the photographers, and don't care.

What are some other good Photoshop alternatives? (preferably for the Mac?)

A really poor interview. For instance the question about the price hike was brushed aside with a comment about Lightroom pricing! How was that relevant to the question? Did you pursue it? Did he refuse to answer?

This interview again raises questions in my mind regarding DPR's editorial independence since it has been acquired by Amazon. Adobe and Amazon enjoy a significant financial partnership so it should not surprise anyone that this move by Adobe is being presented in a most positive light.

If DPR wants to gain some editorial credibility it should start featuring more articles about image editing products other than Adobe programs. Tell us what we can use instead of Photoshop. Better yet, inform photographers that for many of us Photoshop is simply overkill and that essential editing steps required can be done with less expensive and easier to use software.

Winston Hendrickson's comments above pretty much convince me that the time has come to seriously consider alternatives to Lightroom. The idea that CC subscribers will get "added functionality" is another way of saying that in the future, unless you subscribe, you will get a crippled product.

To be honest, Adobe's attitude to this would put me off continuing with Adobe software even if the CC subscription was more affordable. Its a shame because I love Lightroom 4 and the Lightroom 5 beta seems excellent.

I guess its either on to Capture One Pro 7 or back to Aperture ...

Ever since CS1, it became apparent the master was no longer the customer. The Master was profit earnings. Photoshop upgrade gimmicks were the only thing to keep the faith it was worth buy 2300 hundred cable channels when in reality only one channel was worth having. This recent announcement reflect American Corporate Greed at it very finest. The good thing about a free market system is that I have the personal choice to not opt-in. After Adobe pulled their Usenet forums, it was very obvious they did not want the customer voice to sound off too loud. Someday, somehow competition will generate an alternative source and until then I will use CS6 for as long as I can.

The problem is these arrogant Winston Hendrickson types think seasoned amateurs and small business professionals think we should be using LightRoom. This whole thing is made up garbage. They claim they have had a butal time trying to support two products if also garbage. It's two types of licensing schemes, not two products. It needs only be one product with cloud access limited on the perpetual license and access enabled on the rental license.

What kind of lazy nonsense is being pushed on us anyway? They want to move me from $200 per upgrade to $240 per year.

I think they are running out of useful features so want everyone on a rental program so they don't have to come up with meaningful upgrades to lure our cash. They've been using the new camera needs new ACR to work in order to scam your upgrade cash. Now, it's this requred rental scam. Either way it's been more of a scam so they didn't have to come up with much in the way of serious features.

DPReview's original article on Adobe's switch to cloud-based software was entitled "Adobe heralds subscription-only future for Photoshop and Creative Suite"—a headline that looks like it was created in Adobe's PR department. A more accurate title for that article would have been "Adobe Declares War on Their Customers".

Being "online" is the least of my conerns here. The fact that it's much more expensive without getting anything in return is what bugs me (sorry, but the online storage is worth zip--I doubt I'm alone on this.) Actually, I'd be paying more for a worse situation--ie., I lose access to my PSD files as soon as I stop paying (or does Photoshop CC keep working but simply lose the ability to save?)

If the monthly rate was $10/month forever, that'd be closer to parity (and according to Adobe, the CC model helps their productivity, so their earnings still come out ahead.)

Just seems like in the world of software and technology, the norm is seeing price/performance improve over time. So when it takes a big backward step, everybody notices.

You can spin this anyway you want. You are still nickel & diming your customers to death.

I can hardly wait to see your company fall from its peak to become the 'myspace' or 'altavista' of photo/video editing because of you alienating those who have spent thousands of dollars keeping you afloat with your high-prices while you were the only real software out there. Now however, there are alternatives and more will become available after people find out how an already greedy company is forcing people to subscribe instead of own. (in some cases you already do that with ACR).

I'm going to tell everyone I know to tell everyone they know that you are abusing the public trust by selling them something they can't even really have without always spending more. It's like buying groceries and paying for them again every time you open the cupboard to eat.

Mark my words everyone,
THIS IS THE POINT IN HISTORY WHERE ADOBE FALLS!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I'm shopping for new software now.

Acorn 4 and Pixelmator thank you for my business, Adobe.

Spent less than $50 in total on the Apple App Store.

So now DPReview is the PR wing of Adobe. Not a good move, but I'm guessing greed follows greed.

Time was DPR was my first stop every day and the often throughout. Now I check in a few times week.

Adobe has opened the door for the next phase of image editing software, but it won't be from them. DPR long ago opened the door for a new hallmark digital photography site. Now the question is only what will replace both of these titans.

*cough* bullllshit *cough*
They could have offered a perpetual license with the CC software, it just checks monthly, but no charges. Maintaining two versions is nonsense. The only risk you will run with that scheme is that Adobe can go bankrupt and you loose access, but I'm sure someone would take over the service at that time.

Greed is the only reason I see behind this.