Price gouging? Really? What nonsense. They set a price. The market either pays it or they don't. If the product is in enough demand, it will be paid for, if it's not, it won't. That's market pricing, not gouging. You don't need to use Photoshop, but for a lot of people it is the best option. If there were no alternative at all, then perhaps you'd have a point, but there are many alternatives. That they are considered to be not as good by many people is not Adobe's fault, unless you blame them for making a superior product?
Like everyone else, I prefer to pay as little as possible for something (taking into consideration all aspects of the purchase, including after sales support and so on), but I don't begrudge anyone for charging what they think their product or service is worth. I then have the option of buying or not. Sure, it's fine to communicate to the vendor if I'm not happy with the price, but I don't believe I have any right to expect them to set the price the way I want it. The upgrade policy used to be significantly better than most of the market - now it looks like they're bringing things back to be more in line with most of the market. Such is life. But it or don't.