Photoshop

Now still the question -- will one be able to buy a perpetual licence? Feels doubtful.
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From their FAQ (emphasis mine)

Will the cost of my membership ever increase?
When you purchase directly from Adobe, the cost of an annual membership will not go up during the first 12 months of your membership. It is possible that the cost of the month-to-month membership will increase, but if it does, you will be notified and given the opportunity to cancel.

Adobe also offers prepaid cards through retailers and resellers that allow you to buy membership with an upfront payment.

Can I prepay for my Creative Cloud membership?
You can prepay for one year of membership when you purchase through a retailer or etailer (like Amazon). This gives you the same price as purchasing an annual plan directly from Adobe, but you pay up front instead of monthly.
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And as to the desert scenario:

Do I need ongoing Internet access to use my Creative Cloud desktop applications?
No. Your Creative Cloud desktop applications (such as Photoshop and Illustrator) are installed directly on your computer, so you won't need an ongoing Internet connection to use them on a daily basis.

You will need to be online when you install and license your software. If you have an annual membership, you'll be asked to connect to the web to validate your software licenses every 30 days. However, you'll be able to use products for 3 months (99 days) even if you're offline.
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So, a bouncing Adobe Validator icon in the dock every 24 hours? I already have to deal with something similar at work. Only IT can be an administrator on a Mac, so every time anything updates or needs to connect to the web like this I am screwed. This is a productivity suck, but one which will happily be balanced out because I'll be connected to the people I collaborate with and the people who inspire me. Unless I'm offline.
 
Sparrow said:
... do you understand the difference between leasing and buying a car? ...
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When you buy a car, you make the down payment in the beginning and select your purchase on the amount of down payment you can make. At the end you own an old car but at least it is yours.

When you lease a car, the down payment comes at the end when you hope to be able to afford it but most likely cannot. You lose your car and may end up with extra charges. No down payment for your next car.

I am not leasing Photoshop!
Pete
 
3rdtrick said:
You lose your car and may end up with extra charges. No down payment for your next car.
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And those 'extra charges' can be manipulations that our perpetual CS6 cannot read. (again from the FAQ, emphasis mine)

Can the new CC applications export to CS6?
Many of the Creative Cloud desktop applications provide the ability to export files to the Creative Suite 6 version of that same application. Creative Suite 6 products are available via a perpetual software license.

Adobe plans to continue to support the ability to export to Creative Suite 6 in the applications that have that capability now.

New features added to the desktop applications after Creative Suite 6 may not be supported in the exported file, or by the Creative Suite 6 application.

Which CC applications support export to CS6?
The following applications support the ability to export to the CS6 version of the application:

Photoshop
InDesign®
Illustrator
Flash® Professional
Dreamweaver®
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It's all good, we'll be connected to the people we collaborate with and the people who inspire us.
 
I've been using photoshop since ver 3. I used to really look forward to new versions, but recently I only have upgraded because I wanted/needed ACR (not newer photoshop) to be able to convert raw on a newish camera. Not to say I didn't like th new versions but I clearly didn't need them.

Now that I using Fuji x series more than anything else, the whole situation is topsy turvey... ACR is definitely NOT the best converter for the fuji raw files. So as Bill says, this is really a final push to get me to seriously try to figure out Capture One (wow, I didn't realize how embedded PS had become in my workflow thinking). I also spent some time with Silky Pix last year as a converter - it was excellent but klunky. I'm hoping Capture One will work out....and I can keep on using the version of PS that I have now forever :)

Sad to see how Adobe has become the Darth Vader of the photo app kingdom - they used to be really great <sigh> or am I just getting old and sentimental ???
 
Entombed at CS5.5

Entombed at CS5.5

If it requires an internet connection to run, it's a complete non-starter. I work in the field 75% of the time, and sometimes there is no cell phone signal - (think offshore). I take a complete back up of all the software I use and 2 computers with me in the field at all times. The computers must be able to be restored without internet connections. At least that is still possible with Mountain Lion with a little dancing. Win 7 is fine.

So I guess I will just stop the upgrade cycles here. The only issue I see going forward is opening RAW files with new cameras. At least there are other options for this.

In celebration of Adobe's falling on their swords, I installed Photoshop 7 on an old G4 and opened at 200MB plus file from a 20 year old CD-ROM - the very first ROM I ever burned. Worked just fine, thank you, and all for less than 4 months subscription.

Do we really need all these upgrades? I do appreciate the way they all work together, especially on the Mac platform. But having learned how to retouch hair etc on Photoshop 3 means I don't want to use a healing brush.

Too bad for Adobe, no more upgrade money from my company.
 
Having been around Photoshop since the beginning, I would now estimate that the majority of users are "students, hobbyists and amateurs." But the vast majority of paying customers are professionals. Piracy is so out of hand, among professionals, it hard to find anyone outside of an office with a fully legitimate copy. Student versions are the most abused IMO...
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Sounds right, but isn't this because of the high price of the products? I would guess that the number of pirated copies of Photoshop being used is many, many multiples of that of paid copies because of the high price of the product. I would have thought that the elasticity of demand is extremely high, so that if the purchase price were lowered to, say, US$75 the piracy would be essentially stopped and overall revunue would increase.

—Mitch/Paris
Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Other Poems [download link for book project]
 
3rdtrick said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparrow
... do you understand the difference between leasing and buying a car? ...
Click to expand...

When you buy a car, you make the down payment in the beginning and select your purchase on the amount of down payment you can make. At the end you own an old car but at least it is yours.

When you lease a car, the down payment comes at the end when you hope to be able to afford it but most likely cannot. You lose your car and may end up with extra charges. No down payment for your next car.

I am not leasing Photoshop!
Pete
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... that's a no then?
 
I totally missed that letter -- thanks!
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Seems a few choice people did (totally miss it). Or if they didn't, they didn't quite absorb the language.

I hope home doors don't ever become CEO-enthusiastically-backed "cloud-based" security. Like, the likelihood of power outages is statistically negligible in the PowerPoint presentation...
 
PKR said:
Nothing negative intended - it was obvious that you had more than a casual interest. I know about the various Cloud providers, I've watched them start and grow. I was in attendance when Lynch laid out Adobe's Cloud strategy at Adobe Air 09.

You mention Amazon.. 10/22/12
http://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...-out-reddit-airbnb-netflix-flipboard--2012-10

6/30/12
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthony...king-netflix-instagram-and-pinterest-with-it/

4/21/11
http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/21/amazon-ec2-goes-down-taking-with-it-reddit-foursquare-and-quora/

and.. lots more

MS Azure cloud service inaccessible
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/22/business/la-fi-tn-microsoft-hack-azure-20130222

Dropbox: Yes, we were hacked
http://gigaom.com/2012/08/01/dropbox-yes-we-were-hacked/

Apple iCloud Hack Raises Concerns Over Cloud Security
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Apple-iCloud-Hack-Raises-Concerns-Over-Cloud-Security-609440/

""People are being urged to trust their data to the Internet cloud, but then you find that the operational security is alarmingly lax," says Stephen Cobb, security analyst at anti-virus firm ESET. "
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-08-09/password-hackers/57015384/1
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Adobe is evidently of the belief (or hope) that the majority of its clients are technical ignorati who will just do as they're told and if there's an issue, well suck it because you agreed to our Terms of Service.

It will take at least a generation until computer systems are built with the seriousness as civil engineering works --which if we use Bangladesh as an example, as long as somebody's making money as-is they won't do much to improve things.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
Seems a few choice people did (totally miss it). Or if they didn't, they didn't quite absorb the language.

I hope home doors don't ever become CEO-enthusiastically-backed "cloud-based" security. Like, the likelihood of power outages is statistically negligible in the PowerPoint presentation...
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A colleague walked into her lab yesterday for final student presentations to find that there was no power in the whole room. IT came up about fifteen minutes later and said "circuit is dead nothing we can do". A half hour later they reconvened for a very abbreviated set of presentations in another room across campus.
 
malland said:
Sounds right, but isn't this because of the high price of the products? I would guess that the number of pirated copies of Photoshop being used is many, many multiples of that of paid copies because of the high price of the product. I would have thought that the elasticity of demand is extremely high, so that if the purchase price were lowered to, say, US$75 the piracy would be essentially stopped and overall revunue would increase.
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Similarly, Rolls Royce would sell a lot of cars if they priced them like a Ford Escort. But an extensive software program costs a lot to develop, just like building an expensive car. There is a direct correlation between Photoshop development costs and revenues generated by sales.

Not everyone needs all the features of Photoshop, nor the price. That is why there is a $114 alternative (Lightroom)

Nothing above addresses the problem of those who pay for Photoshop paying the pro-rata share of those who use pirated copies. That is what rubs some of us the wrong way when we realize that when we are paying for Photoshop, we are not only paying our share but that of someone who did not pay. It is like being asked to pay $8 for a roll of film that would be only $5 except for so many shoplifters.
 
What updates??? Adobe will have no more incentive to come up with new features to get you to upgrade. This is Adobe's only way of assuring future revenue as they have lost their creativity to come up with new and better products. They will not even need new customers as long as they can keep raping the ones they have. Maybe if Kodak had leased us that $5 roll of film, they would still be solvent even though we are using digital.
Pete
 
PKR said:
They will surely support the newest Cam RAW converters and they occasionally really improve things. For example, CS4 stitching feature was much better the version I had previously. But now there are others with similar features that haven't hit the greed plateau yet.

C1 has the best converter (I'm told - haven't used v7), the best moire tool (no AA on Phase backs), a good stitching tool and a great tethering feature. Many working photo folks are expected to work tethered even on location these days.
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Of course they will update for new cameras and OS but I don't think you will see any major new features. Nothing that would make you want to pay for the upgrade. They get your money anyway...

I have been seriously looking at C1 to replace LR but it has no spot removal or clone tool, just some funky dust removal where you take a reference photo. That is a real showstopper for me.
 
I have played around with Gimp on my Linux systems and it is quite good but I already have Photoshop that should last for quite a few years. I am looking to replace Lightroom for raw conversions & DAM when I finally bites the dust.
 
PKR said:
Bob, as a paid in full PS/CS owner of many versions I agree with you. But, do you think if PS piracy went to 50% of what it is tomorrow - Adobe would drop their prices by even 20%? It's like watching the price of Sweet Crude go down while the price of gas goes up.
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I have always wondered what the percentage of Photoshop piracy is. I guess one would have to only count the serious users and not just those who tried it since they could get a copy without paying. I have never seen any reliable info on this, just pure internet speculation.

I do know from my knowledge of Adobe that there is a direct link between revenues from new product sales plus upgrades and the spending on enhancements. That goes back to John Warnock's memos to employees some 30 years ago. So Adobe could drop their price 20% but that would simply mean they would spend 20% less on new development. I assume Adobe believes they have found that "sweet spot" in pricing to return what is needed for future development and growth.
 
PKR said:
Well, I've never seen such public outrage against a company (newer bigger net factored) since the MS days. And, most of these unhappy folks are non pro (little photo income) users. I wonder what portion of Adobe's users fall into this group?

Adobe may actually see a revenue jump as folks buy their last CD version of CS6.
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I believe Creative Suite, which includes Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Acrobat is less than half Adobe's business. I suspect stand alone Photoshop is a small part of the Creative Suite product line. And I suspect that the non-pro Photoshop users are a small part of even that.

So we are talking about most Photoshop users being a small part of a small segment of something that is less than half Adobe's revenues.

So while there may be much noise on the internet, I suspect the actual impact, whether positive or negative, on Adobe will be insignificant in financial terms. A bit like all those who boycott Wal-Mart, while the company comfortably builds on its position as the world's largest retailer.

Everything I read in the financial press about Adobe says the new business model is working out very well.
 
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