Well I'm glad you read my post fully Ed :-)
And you're right the word cloud I used in a bit in a fuzzy context and can be wrong in some aspects, yet right in others......
You explained it well, although it doesn't change the end result.
I could be am wrong about this but Adobe is not "going to the cloud". You have been able to down load adobe products from the web (= the cloud) for years. Nothing is changing here at all. (You can't order the DVD sets any more, granted.) You will still be downloading your applications from the web. You will not be running cloud applications or anything like this. It will still be an application running on the machine sitting on your desk.
The change is only about the pricing: buying vs. subscribing.
(And I think the new CC applications will have some nice cloud/web storage aspects in certain cases.)
The Cloud thing is nothing; it is about the pricing model.
Or have I missed something.
EdHopkins
What you're missing is that the end result is the same.........We will end up renting the software vs owning a time free license to use it. That at least financially is under the cloud approach of providing a service.
What your picking out at is one side of a mix in vocabulary as there is some overlap. Yes downloading from Adobe I have been doing for some time and using the apps on the desktop. Yes Adobe has some apps that are cloud based, and yes Adobe is moving in the direction of subscription service instead of licensing the software regardless of where it resides.
Let's say we purchased 12 months of Photoshop. We downloaded it to the computer, the app now makes a constant connection via web to monitor your usage including how you use the application in some cases... all in the name of providing you with better service. So after 12 months if you don't resubscribe for more time the application can lock itself out.
Call it cloud with the app residing on the desktop,, or subscription based, either way it is a big problem for those that don't upgrade every time one is made available.
I am on CS5, and I think I can use it for at least a year or 2 , or more.
Corel Paint is a great alternative to Photoshop, when the time comes, I too will look for alternate methods besides subscribing to a service.
It makes economic sense, which makes for better products.
Really? How do you define better? Why wouldn't the next move as much as possible NOT be full cloud usage? Only limited to large file size or bandwidth is the reason Adobe hasn't been able to force that.
Yes Rand, the word cloud is a buzz word, and it can mean more than one thing. For example, I can say I store my backup images on a "cloud" server. You may think I have some company servicing this, yet the server is a NAS placed in a relatives building and it's controlled by me. This is still cloud. VS you paying a company to backup your info, or use a application that is "web access based" or a application that has a frame work on the desktop with much of the function requests going over the web to a company mainframe, etc.
The difference is that instead of paying a large fee and going through a validation every time we upgrade, now we pay a smaller fee and validate every month or quarter. But the applications still reside on the local computer just as they always have and function just as they always did. The biggest change from a user standpoint is it now appears we'll have to upgrade when every new version is released rather than having the option of hanging on to the older version until we choose to move to a later version. How much of a problem that might present operationally remains to be seen.
_EdHopkins
It isn't a large fee we pay EVERYTIME for license upgrades. It is an upgrade to the one time large fee we paid. Every 3-4 or more years $200 for Photoshop isn't that bad. I have always been able to skip an upgrade or 2. And yes the licensing thing is annoying. Imagine you don't have internet connection some ISP outage. Does this create another layer of complexity to get to work with your app? I think so. Besides it makes you use the app until you feel the NEED to do the update.
I use InDesign every other week, and I use Acrobat Pro every so often. I am running fine on CS InDesign from many years ago, my Acrobat eis v8 from years ago. The main app I update is Photoshop and that too is CS5 which I use daily.
With subscription, you WILL need to be current EVERYTIME you want to use the app.
Philip Weber brings up a good point in the what if situation (A likely one at that). If you stop the service in say 4 or 5 years as you see something shift in what you do or any other reason. Do you end up with going back to what you had 4 or 5 years ago? OUCH!!!