I'm sorry, as a Photoshop user since version 2.5 (1992) and every version since then, this is a
HUGE slap in the face and
F*CK YOU to the many people who made Adobe successful, especially pro photographers and designers. This ties you into a never ending round of "upgrade" on their timetable, not yours. As a photographer, I use Photoshop (CS6) and Lightroom regularly. I also use InDesign and Illustrator (version CS5), but nowhere nearly as frequently, and Dreamweaver CS4 once in a blue moon. Don't get me started on Acrobat (version 10) -- in many ways, THAT has been seriously screwed up since version 5, which to me had the best usability. (All mine are PC versions.)
Meanwhile, my wife is a graphic designer who works on a Mac. Her primary tool is InDesign (CS6), and to lesser degree, Illustrator and Photoshop (both CS5), as well as Acrobat 5 and 8. (She has always felt FreeHand was far superior to Illustrator, which Adobe bought to keep out competition.) For both of us, this forces us into upgrading ALL Adobe programs, regardless of use and priority and budget, and if we don't it renders what we have
inoperable. I don't mean something like a TIFF can't be opened. But I mean InDesign files are held hostage, as well as Illustrator. NOT a good business model for the end user. A great revenue stream for Adobe. This forces us all into the upgrade treadmill and "renting" our software forever. I guess this is what come from lack of competition or standardizing on one series of software.
We saw this kind of arrogance with
Quark. Eventually, it shot itself in the foot and is close to being a footnote. It is because we have all put too much faith in Adobe that they have now taken us hostage. I tried a test myself of what the future holds. I was beta user of Muse -- a relatively good little WYSIWYG web design program. Currently a lot of limitations, but I produced a decent web site with the initial version 1 release. I decided to go back ayear later and see if I could edit the original design file. No go. Had to update the program. (Of course, in the "old days", it would not have mattered if I had version 1 still.) I decided to blow $180 and opt for the annual subscription. For the better part of the day, my system tried downloading the update and never completed. Finally, the next day, I succeeded. This is our future. As another footnote, the "backward compatibility" is crap. With each iteration of InDesign, for instance, the indd format as changed and IS NOT backward compatible. If you try to open a CS6 indd file with CS5, you will fail.
Issue #2: Download speeds and the arrogance of Silicon Valley. I'm a NYC based photographer. However, for reasons of personal lifestyle and quality of life, I choose to live in the hinterlands of PA (and previously, VA) -- not the hotbed of internet speed. On a good day, I'm looking at maybe 4Mb/s download. Silicon Valley seems to think everyone has 20Mb/s or higher. Hey, they do, doesn't everyone? (The US has one of the poorest ratings for national internet speeds of all the industrial nations of the world.) Just the 1GB of Photoshop takes the better part of a day -- hence why I go with a CD/DVD. (Because Apple has the same mentality, it takes my wife a day to download any new OS X.) Can you imagine the length of time required to update not one but two computers with: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat and Muse on a regular basis?
I'm sorry, this is sheer and utter crap. I have no problem with businesses trying to make a profit. I do have a problem with businesses trying to hold my business hostage. And should I ever end up the in subscription model, I will NEVER entrust Adobe to hold my files in their Cloud. (Another absurd notion for them. Like I'd have the bandwidth and time to store hundred or thousands of gigbytes of images on some cloud server.) And I will seriously look for alternate programs where I can. (For anyone who want s a great Illustrator alternate, try Canvas. Ten times better a program, easier to use. Illustrator is simply a backup to that for me.)
One final thought. Note that Adobe has
NOT made Lightroom subscription only. Can you guess why? I'll give you at least three big reasons: Apple Aperture, Capture One and DxO Optics. All very credible alternatives. I'm glad I work with the later two. Maybe I need to hone my skills better with those for the future.
Nemo