PS/LR CC subscription: wonder what happens in 12 months?

[l_d_allan]

With some reluctance, I decided to subscribe to PS + LR from my current CS5 + LR4.  That gives me about a full month to really evaluate it, and see if I want to discontinue within 30 days.

$120 / year USD seems reasonable, but my question is whether there will be a "price bump" this time next year. It concerns me that we'll be a "captive audience".

I do get annoyed by "Loss Leader Teaser Deals", when the cost doubles or triples once the introductory offers ends.

[PhotoEcosse]

I think you are right to be worried. The current offer does make some economic sense for amateur photographers like us but, say, a doubling of the subscription in a year or two would make it unattractive to all but professionals or semi-pros.

It seems that Adobe are unwilling to give a sensible forward commitment on price, so my advice would be to hold on to your CS and LR so that you can revert to them if necessary. At least with Lightroom, you should, in a year's time, be able to upgrade it to LR5 (or LR6?) at the normal price if you do have to go back to using the perpetual licence.

[Simon Garrett]

I make no assumptions about commercial companies, other than that they will try to stay legal (or legal enough to avoid action against them) and that they will maximise benefit for senior managers and their owners (in that order, generally).

However, there's a limit to how far you can stiff your customers without losing revenue, and thus impacting benefit for senior managers and owners, so I expect that the price of the bundle won't go up vastly.  But that could still be inflation plus a bit - maybe a 10% rise.  

It might depend on how many take up the offer.  If it's a good take up, then expect a price rise in a year.  If it's poor, and after a year CC subscriptions are still poor, then Adobe have a real problem.  Screw up the price, and accept that only professionals will ever use CC?  Even more tempting offers for amateurs?  Who knows.  

PS - FWIW, I've subscribed.  I've got CS5 and LR5, and the subscription rate of £8.78 in the UK is about what I used to spend to upgrade LR every time, and to upgrade CS every other time (when you could do that).  However, if the price goes up much, or we get fewer and fewer enhancements in Photoshop (enhancements useful to me, that is), then I'll drop back to using CS5 and LR by perpetual licence. 

[MikeChambers]

With some reluctance, I decided to subscribe to PS + LR from my current CS5 + LR4.  That gives me about a full month to really evaluate it, and see if I want to discontinue within 30 days.

$120 / year USD seems reasonable, but my question is whether there will be a "price bump" this time next year. It concerns me that we'll be a "captive audience".

I do get annoyed by "Lost Leader Teaser Deals", when the cost doubles or triples once the introductory offers ends.

The $9.99 price is the regular price, and not a promotional price that automatically goes up after a year (like some of our other promotions do). Each year when you renew, you renew at the current price, which may be higher or lower (or the same) than what you initially signed up for. This offer is NOT a price guarantee. I imagine, that sometime in the future, the price will change, but in general we don't have plans to raise the price.

Hope that helps...

mike chambers

[email protected]

[Vladimirovich]

It concerns me that we'll be a "captive audience".

you are already, it is just a question whether you will continue to be captive with LR + old PS or LR + PS CC

[ButchM]

... but in general we don't have plans to raise the price.

Not to be argumentative ... but ... before early May of 2013, Adobe had no publicaly stated "plans" to cease development of the perpetual licensing model for their CS products beyond vCS6. With that example, I'm sure you can understand that at least a few potential customers may have some lingering doubt and/or trust issues and are not very reassured by your clarification. For some of us, it may take more than words and a low price threshold to have the confidence that venturing forth is in our best long-term interest.

[chez]

Like anything else in life...if the price goes up past what I am willing to pay, I'll stop paying. There are not guarantees in future pricing on anything I purchase or rent. That's just the way it is.

[yaredna]

I think you are right to be worried. The current offer does make some economic sense for amateur photographers like us but, say, a doubling of the subscription in a year or two would make it unattractive to all but professionals or semi-pros.

It seems that Adobe are unwilling to give a sensible forward commitment on price, so my advice would be to hold on to your CS and LR so that you can revert to them if necessary. At least with Lightroom, you should, in a year's time, be able to upgrade it to LR5 (or LR6?) at the normal price if you do have to go back to using the perpetual licence.

Truly, now, hypothetically, if Adobe provided us with a commitment, how many would have believe them ? After all the unmade promises in 2013, and the continuous flip-flopping ? Thanks, but no thanks !

[MikeChambers]

Not to be argumentative ... but ... before early May of 2013, Adobe had no publicaly stated "plans" to cease development of the perpetual licensing model for their CS products beyond vCS6. With that example, I'm sure you can understand that at least a few potential customers may have some lingering doubt and/or trust issues and are not very reassured by your clarification. For some of us, it may take more than words and a low price threshold to have the confidence that venturing forth is in our best long-term interest.

Yes, plans change over time. That is why in my original statement I said:

I imagine, that sometime in the future, the price will change, but in general we don't have plans to raise the price.

mike chambers

[email protected]

[Peter Le]

    If I remember right.....last year at this time you were saying there were no plans of ending perpetual licenses. Look what happened in a few months.....then how it flipped and flopped for a few more months. At this point Adobe's word means almost nothing to a lot of your long time users. I do believe right now at this point in time you are right this is the price......but as the past year has showed us this means almost nothing and will most likely change as soon as Adobe feels they are getting their desired amount of users...... or maybe even before that.

[SunnyUK]

$120 / year USD seems reasonable, but my question is whether there will be a "price bump" this time next year. It concerns me that we'll be a "captive audience".

Well... let's get together in December 2014 and see how it went. Speculation about future prices is futile, as numerous people losing money on the stock markets have found out.

[l_d_allan]

"captive audience".

Something that concerns me ... some p.p. we've done to images in CC's ACR 8.# could be "orphaned". I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one concerned about this issue.

For example, I'm really impressed with the much more capable and improved "spot removal" in the latest ACR that lets us drag along something to be removed, like a power-line. That's so much better than the old "series of circles" you used to have to do in all previous ACR's (and LR). That was really a "hold your nose work-around".

For me, the "series of circles of spot removal" didn't tend to work all that well anyway.  Also, this CC ACR 8.# capability significantly increases the number of images that could be fully pp'ed with ACR, and don't need to get PS healing and/or content removal. For me, the more images that can stay in RAW as the "master" with no need for PS, the better.

I was hoping that when I did this to an image with ACR 8.2, I'd at least be able to see the power-lines removed in an older ACR, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Soooo .... if I use the improved Spot-Removal a LOT (which I expect to do), and then decide to eventually drop my subscription, then that p.p. is lost. Or not?

I'm hoping that Adobe has some "compatibility enhancement" for older ACR's that let them "see" changes made in a later CC ACR version. That would be like ACR 6.7 with Pv2010 being able to "see" slider tweaks to images that had been processed with PV2012 in LR 4.#. You couldn't made further adjustments, but at least the PV2012 slider tweaks (and brushes and gradient and etc.) had been applied.
 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I'm hoping that Adobe has some "compatibility enhancement" for older ACR's that let them "see" changes made in a later CC ACR version. That would be like ACR 6.7 with Pv2010 being able to "see" slider tweaks to images that had been processed with PV2012 in LR 4.#. You couldn't made further adjustments, but at least the PV2012 slider tweaks (and brushes and gradient and etc.) had been applied.

Hi,

Well, many have expressed their concerns with the lack of a real exit option to the subscription model. Since Adobe still have not come up with some kind of solution, it seems they want to make stopping to pay them for life, as painful as possible (even more painful as time goes by, to express their gratitude for loyalty).

Cheers,
Bart

[JonathanRimmel]

Hi,

Well, many have expressed their concerns with the lack of a real exit option to the subscription model. Since Adobe still have not come up with some kind of solution, it seems they want to make stopping to pay them for life, as painful as possible (even more painful as time goes by, to express their gratitude for loyalty).

Cheers,
Bart

This certainly seems the case. Not having a smooth exit option is the MAIN reason I am not moving to the cloud. Cost is an issue, but a secondary one in this case.

[Simon Garrett]

Hi,

Well, many have expressed their concerns with the lack of a real exit option to the subscription model. Since Adobe still have not come up with some kind of solution, it seems they want to make stopping to pay them for life, as painful as possible (even more painful as time goes by, to express their gratitude for loyalty).

Cheers,
Bart

I agree this is an issue.  But what exit option could Adobe offer, short of dropping back to a perpetual license model (which they say they won't do)? 

My personal exit strategy (if I don't want to go on paying per month) is that I'll go back to my stand-alone LR5 and update that if necessary, and use my copy of Photoshop CS5. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I agree this is an issue.  But what exit option could Adobe offer, short of dropping back to a perpetual license model (which they say they won't do)?

Allow to purchase the last subscribed version for a reasonable price, and make the usage license for that version perpetual.

Cheers,
Bart

[l_d_allan]

My personal exit strategy (if I don't want to go on paying per month) is that I'll go back to my stand-alone LR5 and update that if necessary, and use my copy of Photoshop CS5. 

That's close to what I have in mind, if CC goes up in price dramatically. But .... who knows?

[l_d_allan]

Allow to purchase the last subscribed version for a reasonable price, and make the usage license for that version perpetual.

Unlikely, but I hope you're right.

My hope would be that if you've subscribed for ## months, Adobe allows you to purchase a perpetual license for a reasonable amount.

Kind of like fulfilling your lease agreement on a car, then buying the car?

[Isaac]

I agree this is an issue.  But what exit option could Adobe offer, short of dropping back to a perpetual license model (which they say they won't do)?

Allow to purchase the last subscribed version for a reasonable price, and make the usage license for that version perpetual.

Simon specifically asked "what exit option could Adobe offer, short of dropping back to a perpetual license model".

[Isaac]

My hope would be that if you've subscribed for ## months, Adobe allows you to purchase a perpetual license for a reasonable amount.

You're deluding yourself.