Photoshop and other Adobe products moving to subsription model.

[.Taffy 10]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22432171

From next month, continuing access to the programs, either individually or as a whole, will demand a monthly fee.

Standalone versions will still be available but will not be upgraded.

........

At Max, Adobe said the standalone version of its Creative Suite, which bundles together 16 programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Audition, Dreamweaver and Premiere, would be frozen at version 6. Bug fixes would be made available for this version but new features and enhancements would not. Currently, the standalone version of Creative Suite 6 costs about £1,800 from Adobe.

Those who want to keep up with upgrades and changes to Creative Suite would have to take out a subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud - a web-based system through which customers can manage what they do with the different tools. In return, customers get access to the software as well as an online storage system and project management tools.

........

"Customers have to come to terms with the end of perpetually licensed software," IDC analyst Al Hilwa told the Associated Press.

The move to a subscription model is the culmination of a long experiment by Adobe to see if customers would pay monthly for access. Adobe said it now had 500,000 subscribers for Creative Cloud after running a pilot programme for a year.

I know that Photoshop, as well as some other Adobe products, are widely used among the members of this forum, not least in the production of custom content for Arma, so I'm interested to hear what you think of this development. It would also be good to hear from those who use it proffessionally, what does this mean for you and your business?

[vilas 474]

what do i think ? i think that they will loose more than gain, cause hackers will break security and hacked version will work without limits, and their sales will go down, cause noone will accept "monthly fees" for usage (like tram ticket, urban card ?) in software,

the more "security" in software, the more piracy, cause legal user should get EASY one-click install product which do not require more actions than "instal", if they want fees control, other options terminating software each month - this will be rejected by customers also cause "you must give order to your accountant in your company" to pay it, it makes more beaurocracy in companies etc. for big company with many copies it means big costs plus big beaurocracy in accountance (and more duties in accountancy every month one invoice more etc)

hackers will break it anyway and torrented version will work constantly

greed of software companies always calls piracy reaction, noone in poor countries would than buy single copy if he has to pay every month, people rather (if forced by legal actions against piracy) go to the freeware

people pay for product ONCE and monthly usage payment is f* idea, which will only make enemies to Adobe

when it comes to addons - photoshop is neccesary for 2 reasons - alpha channel, nohq plugin,

if other software was making it good, there would be no reason to touch photoshop

Edited May 7, 2013 by vilas

[Tonci87 163]

Wait so the people who bought this stuff now have to pay for patches and support? Oh Adobe....

[.Taffy 10]

From the article it seems that everything, with the exception of bug fixes, will only be available via subscriptions. On that note the wording here:

Bug fixes would be made available for this version [Creative Suite 6]

What that means with regards to the avilability of bug fixes for those who want to purchase future versions without subscription is questionable.

[Mattar_Tharkari 10]

Looks like a lot of people will be switching to / devloping alternatives such as Gimp?

[ProfTournesol 956]

That's not really surprising. Microsoft is following the same route, and i'm afraid that's unavoidable in front of such a widespread piracy.

[katipo66 94]

Not surprising i guess, there goes my upgrade! CS4 4 life!

I heard they are also dropping fireworks.

[vilas 474]

That's not really surprising. Microsoft is following the same route, and i'm afraid that's unavoidable in front of such a widespread piracy.

noone who is sane in this world will be using things which are difficult to use (you must remember about invoicing etc.)

people will simply took version from torrent and show middle finger into direction of Adobe

first thing that should happen is equalize earning (salaries) to level that people can buy software

in some rich countries of the world (Sweden, Norway, Germany, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Finland... ) it is easy, but in rest of our globe, such software costs more than you can save during year ( it costs as much as monthly salary or more, to save it we would not have to eat)

piracy is an excuse for big greed companies, if piracy was killing them, why they have so much Ferraris, Lamborginis, Lexus etc. while in some countries people do not have good jacket or boots ? ;)

if companies want to have more incomes, they should ... lower prices, it sounds weird ?

what is better ? to sell 10 000 copies for 50 dollars or sell 0 copies for 1000 dollars ? ;)

10000*50 = half milion

1000*0 = ... zero ? omg :D

Polish, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Romanian salaries are as 300 euro, 400 euro, some times 500 euro per month, how can people buy anything legal ?

than take Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Tayland, Myanmar, Brasil, Chile , Kongo, Botswana etc. how people earning 100 dollars can buy any legal soft,

companies should for such countries make price comparable to WEST relation between monthly salary and price in WEST

example:

in USA legal windows cost 99 dollars

people in USA earn 2000 dollars monthly

so it is 5% of their monthly salary

what is for you in France buying windows ? nothing

for my countrymen it is half month without eating

power of unit (money, economy) should be the same when it comes to prices , than you can win piracy, if Belarusian, Lithuanian guy can say "legal windows ? okay, i go and buy it" not "legal windows ? o my god, i have to buy food, i must pay for house, i must pay electricity"

i work in one mod with guy from Lithuania, they have 312 kb internet connection cause he cannot afford 10 pounds payment for cable internet cause his parents earn 200 dollars and he is unemployed

in Poland the same windows cost 500 PLN, it is 30% of avarage monthly income

so it is 6 time too much

in Botswana, Kongo, Rwanda, Myamar, whatever people earn 100 , 50 dolars monthly so ...

so such windows should cost them 5-10 dollars and there would be no piracy

Edited May 8, 2013 by vilas

[metalcraze 290]

That's not really surprising. Microsoft is following the same route, and i'm afraid that's unavoidable in front of such a widespread piracy.

You mean they fight piracy by fueling it further with silly decisions?

It's like all those annoying unskippable disclaimers and FBI warnings on Blu-Ray. Yes they help a lot.

[vilas 474]

You mean they fight piracy by fueling it further with silly decisions?

It's like all those annoying unskippable disclaimers and FBI warnings on Blu-Ray. Yes they help a lot.

those FBI warnings on discs looks like upcoming enslavement era and back to feudalism , by being forced to be bank-slave (some people laugh hearing "NWO" )

but it looks "buy all if you even have no money take credit and bank will own you and your family"

really if piracy is so dangerous, who buys those Ferraris, Lamborginis, Bentley while bilions of people have problems with buying food or wear , they also want culture (music, movies, games)

you cannot look at piracy from shoes of citizen of few most rich countries (Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand etc) cause it doesnt look like this ,

for someone soft is 5% of his monthly income, for others it is 110% but all love music, games, all must learn AutoCad to graduate studies etc.

coders from companies earn that much ?

or coders are outsorcing in India ? Belarus ?

who has profits ? Warner Bros, Sony etc , not outsorced coder payed 100 dollars in Indonesia or India who actually WROTE this application in C++

i know guys working as outsourcing from internet , they earn shit , they came from third world, it is not coder or musician or actor who gets most money from movie, music, software

i know guys writing software for 500 usd per month during period of half year in C++

such money is money that in England street cleaner gets in period of week,

Edited May 8, 2013 by vilas

[mrcash2009 0]

All this will do is filter the the big budget boys to continue from studios and larger firms and all "the rest" will stick to the scraps and not upgrade.

Also the most interesting point is the push for cloud computing, I have never liked that and never will, far to much pushing people into constant sharing of information external through such systems & clauses. More control with the excuse of pirates thrown in. Point is all the people pirating were never going to pay, they know this and will circle around large companies and studios/schools and university and so on for the main money. Through work I have a copy of Photochop CS2 ... ive never needed any more upgrades and never had too, thier focus isnt on the individuals anyway, all about suit packages, bulk purchase contracts and so on.

I think people upgrade for the sake of it sometimes, becuase what is it you cannot do with something a year or more ago than now in terms of creativity and power of those products for "getting the job done".

As regards local users for game mods and things, packages right up to that suite are well suited for the job anyway even if you stopped upgrading.

Edited May 8, 2013 by mrcash2009

[NoRailgunner 0]

Guess we will see how many people will like this new payment model - guess some do because they have now the option to pay per month/year. Adobe is the market leader and their products are standard tools in the industry and media. Like many other software companies they did have trial/demo version and had special sales/offers for students, teachers.... Think that average Joe & Jill don't really need the SuperExtented-GoldPlatinum-Edition/Suite for their creative and semi-professional job/hobby.

[vilas 474]

Point is all the people pirating were never going to pay

maybe in rich countries , i know lot of people that want to be honest but cannot due to economy of their country

anyway - this way of Adobe is sucking money from those who MUST have it (companies as said above) and now maybe it sound stupid that one accountant has to make one invoice, but 1000 companies means 1000 hours of accountants more globally plus when bank transfer is lost than what ? client looses ability to start software ?

i hope Gimp will develop more :) i hope freware creators will get donations more and more develop Gimp for sake of "us all" including plugins for gimp etc. etc.

i created lots of textures on freeware , maybe it is harder, but it is possible, just like i do not have pirated 3DS but i do in Oxygen etc. etc.

i hope Gimp will develop more and more plugins will come

[Tonci87 163]

Stuff like this will even increase Piracy.

Usually people who pirate stuff do it for two different reasons.

1. Using it like a extended demo to see if they like the stuff before they buy it.

2. Because they didn´t plan on buying that stuff to begin with.

Large companys are always bringing up the "Pirates" excuse to introduce new unpopular buisness models or to expand their control over the customer. Well the past shows that they only hurt themselves in the long run and even increase piracy. But well, whatever makes the stockholders happy....

[chortles 263]

Well duh, corporate structures make the stockholders the real customers, not the Photoshop users. ;)

[Tonci87 163]

Well duh, corporate structures make the stockholders the real customers, not the Photoshop users. ;)

And that is the main problem with many big Companys.

[nettrucker 142]

Expect it to become average business model in the future.

[Sealife 22]

hmm doesnt look good so far

I wonder if this 500,00 is people who subscribe to the MAX anouncement in JULY not actual Cloud subscriber

Current Personal impact = £36 for Adobe Premier Elements Upgraded about 3 years on average

Speculated Impact = £216 (£18 a Month *12 )

Looks like my decision not to reinstall Adobe after Win8 upgrade and go with GIMP full time might have paid off in many ways .

I guess if they ever put Adoe flash on asubscription that would Impact the most .

[cozza 24]

Glad I use GIMP

Anyway, I was having a chat with an architect in Shanghai about piracy and programs while i was over there last month. Even they hate this pay subscription. They use a program called AutoCAD. Which is very expensive along the lines of $10,000 dollars a copy (Plus a yearly license fee to keep using it). This company uses about 30 versions of it, How many are real..................................................................2. Back in Australia so if they get investigated, they can claim they have real copys. (They don't check in China lol) But from asking around about Australia, all these architectural places uses pirated copy's. and have maybe 1 or 2 real copy's incase of an investigation.

But onto point. It wont take long before the pirates get around it. and company's will start to use pirated version. Its a no win situation. now Adobe wont be 10,000 dollars a version. But depending on the price and monthly subscription. Most companys running Adobe will just turn to piracy.

[max power 21]

I've never really seen that much change between photoshop versions and I can't say that I can think of features I wish photoshop had. I've used several versions of photoshop and we have a creative cloud subscription at work. I've used it on the max and the PC. I can really say I am indifferent about new photoshop versions in general and I think if anyone has the current version they aren't going to be missing much for a while.

[vilas 474]

there is one counterpart of Adobe - Corel ;)

companies making soft do not understand (it seems) that better to sell more copies for lower price than sell zero copies per big price:

1000 copies *100 dollars > 0 copies * 10 000 dollars

[dmarkwick 261]

I've never really seen that much change between photoshop versions and I can't say that I can think of features I wish photoshop had. I've used several versions of photoshop and we have a creative cloud subscription at work. I've used it on the max and the PC. I can really say I am indifferent about new photoshop versions in general and I think if anyone has the current version they aren't going to be missing much for a while.

Agree. I've had my PS version for YEARS, it does all the things I need it to. I don't even remember which version it is :)

[vilas 474]

i just hope to see more plugins for Corel and Gimp in future, really, this would be awsome to have them for Arma addonmaking

[[frl]myke 14]

I use GIMP all the time, especially the normalmap plugin is great. Used on layers it gives you good control of normal mapping.

[b00tsy 28]

Looks like a lot of people will be switching to / devloping alternatives such as Gimp?

Gimp and Paint.net are pretty good, I use it more then PS because it is faster.

PS is also very expensive, I never use cracked software except for PS, seriously not paying the price they are asking for it.