> To install CS6 you must have an active online connection to verify your license or subscription.
Not true.
That is true if you use the Creative Cloud Membership subscription option, but it's not true if you don't. If you use the "old" way of just buying the perpetual license, your computer never has to be connected to the Internet.
> I hope this means that Adobe will contine to allow customers to simply buy (a license to) their products rather than subscribe to the cloud.
Yes. There is absolutely no plan to take this tried and true option away. The Creative Cloud Membership subscription is just an additional option.
> If it reaches a point where I have to keep paying every year whether I want the upgrade or not, I'll probably start looking at alternatives rather than submit to what feels a bit like extortion.
There's no reason for any of this to feel at all like extortion. You have the same options that you've always had. Now you have another one, too. If you don't want to rent/lease, then don't.
The Creative Cloud Membership susbscription option is exactly like renting your home or leasing your car. When you stop paying, you can't use it any longer.
As someone who rents my home but bought my motorcycle and car, I like being able to pick which payment model to use for different kinds of goods and services.
