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Let me explain some things about the scary, but actually not so bad, thing about Adobe's Creative Cloud.
I'm really getting sick of this snowballing for incorrect information and assumptions when not a single person has posted the breakdowns or actually analyzed what is going on here. Alright, yes, the subscription fee is weird and intimidating, we're not used to having to pay for a single item over time as opposed to a one time purchase. (Unless you're a player of certain MMOs). First let me explain what this means, it means that you are purchasing a service, not the software. In-fact, it can be said that for most software, the high prices in the first place have to do with the service and not the program - costs of running the tech support, bug fixes, patches and such long after the initial release of the software. If you were to pay for the software, and absolutely nothing else was updated or fixed, until the next release of the software, the cost would likely be far less.
That being said, in regard to the prices everyone is upset about, allow me to do a breakdown for you.
Creative Suite Master Collection, perpetual license purchase $2600
Creative Suite Master Collection, perpetual license purchase, UPGRADE FROM CS5 MC ONLY $1049
1 year of Adobe Cloud, 50$, all products = $600
2 years of Adobe Cloud, 50$, all products = $1200
3 years of Adobe Cloud, 50$, all products = $1800
4 years of Adobe Cloud, 50$, all products = $2400
Photoshop CS 6, perpetual license purchase $1,000
Photoshop CS 6, perpetual license purchase, UPGRADE FROM PHOTOSHOP CS5 ONLY $400
1 year of Adobe Cloud, 20$, single product = $240
2 years of Adobe Cloud, 20$, single product = $480
3 years of Adobe Cloud, 20$, single product = $720
4 years of Adobe Cloud, 20$, single product = $960
To compare this, let's look at how often new release of adobe products occur, going from the CS series specifically,
CS - 2003
CS2 - 2005
CS3 - 2007
Cs4 - 2008
CS5 - 2010
CS6 - 2012
Based on this there is a new version out every 2 years. With that in mind, look at the 2 year bracket on each of those, then compare to the upgrade cost. Not much of a difference is there? Additionally, it takes 4 years to reach the initial cost of the license itself. But in that time it would have already upgraded to the next version, potentially even sooner due to the constant flow of money vs bursts of income, at costs that are incredibly difficult for any new customer to get into.
So in the end, who looses out the most? The designers that have had the money to perpetually upgrade from each unit to the next are doing this at a slight more expense on their part. Also, those that don't use photoshop, and only use, say, Dreamweaver (400$), Audition (350$) or Flash (600$), then yes, the single product model, would be more expensive than a single license.
You know who doesn't loose out? The base level user that never owned a legitimate copy of the series and that wishes to use more than just one.
Of course, the matter that you are locked out of your software after you are unable to pay, is the biggest problem of all this, and one that is most certainly something that should be discussed and worked out. I know this is to prevent those from paying one month and bailing with the entire library, but if there were to be a deal with adobe, that say after 2 years, if you were to cancel your service you would have access to those programs as they stand at that time, no more updates, no tech support, until you reactivate your subscription. 2 years is about the price of an upgrade, and for anyone that is going to consistently use it, I don't think that's a too long of a time to wait. Of course this is something that remains to be seen if it will work, but I think if adobe were to implement different 'buy to own' tiers, it would make users a lot more comfortable with the service, as well as be a benefit to those that, for whatever reason, can no longer afford it without being completely lost.
Now, I'm not saying you're not allowed to not like the new system, but for goodness sakes, at least be informed of what it is you're up against the real costs, and what it is you're petitioning against. Still want a perpetual license? You can still purchase it. And adobe will continue to offer it for a few years. But, it will not be upgrading these services again and any new products will only be on the cloud.
Yes, this is weird and scary and intimidating, but, it's really not the den of evil it's been made out to be.
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