1 2 Previous Next 52 Replies Latest reply: May 13, 2013 10:46 AM by Kevin-Monahan RSS

    Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?

    Christopher Duncan Community Member

      Saw a tweet from Andrew Kramer today (videocopilot.net) that the new AE was coming out but would require a Creative Cloud subscription.

       

      Does anyone know if this is the case?

        • 2. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
          Christopher Duncan Community Member

          Thanks for the link, Klaus.

           

          I'm glad I heard about htis before I got around to upgrading. Spending the rest of my life making monthly payments to Adobe isn't terribly appealing. But then, neither is suddenly being unable to use any of my tools if for whatever reason I decide to stop making said payments.

           

          Guess it's time to start looking for a company that doesn't hold its customers hostage.

          • 3. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
            Felix Dames Community Member

            If Adobe really kills the regular license model of the Creative Suites and if they will not provide a CS7 they loose me as a paying customer.

             

            I upgraded every Creative Suite Production Premium from CS1 to CS6 and for the price I payed, I now own that software but I will not buy into a software renting model like the creative cloud is!

            Adobe should rethink their decision or they will loose a lot of customers.

            There is not more to say about this totally stupid "money move" from Adobe.

             

            Adobe I'm not stupid!

            Everyone in the worrld knows that permanently renting a car (or software) is much more expensive then buying it once!

            And if you stop renting the car (or software) you get nothing in the end for all your money. if you would have bought it you would own the car (or software) and could use it as long as it works.

             

            My 2 cents = I'm angry!

            • 4. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
              joe bloe premiere Community Member

              My 2 cents = I'm angry!

              Discounting the few 'Cloudvocates', that seems to be the consensus.

              http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1205851?tstart=0

              • 5. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                Dave LaRonde Community Member

                I've been out all day.  I just read about it on the Creative COW, and here's what I wrote:

                 

                "If what you write is true, I have to ask the following:

                 

                "Hey, Adobe: did you learn nothing at all from Apple's Final Cut Pro X debacle? Do you really want the same s**tstorm of negative user reaction dumped on you? Really? You'd like that? Even though you almost exclusively deal in media creation software, but Apple could at least fall back on its far more numerous iThings? Are you nuts?

                 

                "That's what I'd ask."

                 

                Apparently from what you write, it's true: Adobe is taking the same "we don't care what you think, here's how it will be" as Apple did to Final Cut Pro users.

                 

                I wonder if Avid makes effects and compositing software?

                • 6. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                  joe bloe premiere Community Member

                  Do you really want the same s**tstorm of negative user reaction dumped on you? Really? You'd like that?

                  Surely it was expected...  so what does that say?

                   

                  I'm crying in my beer and fanning the flames.

                   

                  Make your opinion known (not that it will matter).

                  http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1205851?tstart=0

                  • 7. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                    Rick Gerard CommunityMVP

                    You can buy CS6 by download and have a perpetual license but CC is a perpetually updated suite of integrated apps that provide previously unheard of and in many cases undereamed of compatibility, integration, and syncronization. I can't wait to jump in to all of the features previewed at max and as far as I'm concerned the annual  subscription price is quite a bargin. Thousands ofproduction fonts, collabrative tools, and, most important in my production pipeline, easier integration and collaboration.

                     

                    If you only use AE you might be a little dissapointed, but I integrate AE with Illustrator, Phoshop, Kuler, C4D, Font Shop, Drop Box, Premiere Pro, Audition and even Dreamweaver almost every day.

                    • 8. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                      joe bloe premiere Community Member

                      I appreciate your enthusiasm, time will tell if it is mutually shared.

                       

                      • 9. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                        Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                        Chris,

                         

                        I believe that it was Wednesday's edition of the Wall Street Journal (printed version, read in San Francisco, so maybe a bit of a "regional" edition?), and one story grabbed me - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323826804578466830054806110.html

                         

                        I had read that Adobe would be no longer shipping physical media, but it seems that ALL perpetual licenses are being suspended - no downloads either - ONLY CC licenses.

                         

                        Sort of ruined my breakfast.

                         

                        Hunt

                        • 10. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                          Stan Jones CommunityMVP

                          My understaning is that CS6 will continue to be sold as a perpetual license as download only for an indefinite period (I don't know if there are some legacy boxes still available), but CC and any new upgrades will be no perpetual license. CS6 will (but remains to be seen) get security/bug fixes.

                          • 11. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                            John T Smith CommunityMVP

                            >CS6 will (but remains to be seen) get security/bug fixes

                             

                            Over in the (over 600 message long) thread about the Cloud http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1205851 Kevin @Adobe has said several times that the big AVCHD spanning bug "may" be fixed in CS6... but he is not able to say that it "will" be fixed

                             

                            I guess all we can do is wait and see just how Adobe carries through with the promise of bug fixes for CS6

                            • 12. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                              Christopher Duncan Community Member

                              Bill,

                               

                              Hit a paywall on the wsj article link but yeah, it's all over the geek news the past few days. I would have been okay with no physical media as that's becoming common. No perpetual licenses, that's something else. So, you either pay an Adobe tax for the rest of your life, or your CC software becomes instantly dead the moment you stop paying the rental fee, no matter how long you've been paying for it.

                               

                              Spoke with an Avid reseller rep today to see if they have a crossgrade path to capitalize on this situation and court Adobe users. He said he hadn't heard anything yet but then, the ink is barely dry on that wsj artical or this story at this point.

                               

                              Media Composer 7 is due "sometime in June." If Avid's smart about it, this could be quite a windfall for them. I know I'll be keeping my eye on the possibility.

                              • 13. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

                                Christopher,

                                 

                                I think you are on the right track to investigate your options. Adobe seems to have lost their sense of direction.

                                 

                                CS7 or CC7.png

                                • 14. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                  Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                  Harm,

                                   

                                  Love the flow chart. Expresses the primary issue. People get hung up on internet connectivity, comparitive cost vs CS, etc. but that's not the real issue. The heart of the matter, and what I object to strenuously, is summed up most eloquently by your chart.

                                   

                                  EOS

                                   

                                  As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm a big fan of traditional subscription services like MSDN, where you retian the licenses acquired during that year. I'd adopt CC in a heartbeat were this the case.

                                   

                                  Otherwise, it's buy a Mac and learn FCP. Or contact my nearest Avid rep. Oh, wait. I already have...

                                  • 15. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                    Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                    Another thing I find amusing is the other thread mentioning many times over that CC has 500,000 subscribers as a way of validating this move. It sounds like a lot, but in fact it's not terribly impressive as a percentage of all CS users.

                                     

                                    How many people hold CS perpetual licenses? I thought I saw a number this week in my newsfeeds that it was around 24 million but I can't recall with any accuracy. So, assuming Adobe is successful, let's pick an easy and much more conservative number to work with - 10 million. From here we can just do the math.

                                     

                                    Adobe touts 500k CC adopters? That's half a million, and thus 5% of the presumed customer base of 10 million. Or, to put it another way, it would mean that 95% of customers are not voting with their wallets for the rental model.

                                     

                                    Of course, a user base of 10 million could be way off. Maybe it's half that. If Adobe has a mere 5 million CS users, then we still have 90% who decline this new way of doing busienss.

                                     

                                    I'm just guessing but I'd be willing to bet that Adobe has more than 5 million customers. Still, if that's all there is, I don't think a 10% success rate is much validation, let alone something to hold up to the naysayers.

                                     

                                    On the other thread there's also mention of the fact that unhappy people tend to rush to forums with a higher frequency than average. You know, as a polite way of saying that we're a small but vocal minority of wackos whose opinions don't represent reality.

                                     

                                    What they don't include in that thinking is this:

                                     

                                    The overwhelming majority of customers that you lose to a competitor will simply walk away, silently, and give their money to someone else. You will never know why they left. You'll only know that the revenue is gone.

                                    • 16. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                      Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                      Chris,

                                       

                                      I do not recall seeing those figures, even in the WSJ article. Would love to see those too.

                                       

                                      It will be interesting to see if the new model, with a higher potential profit per unit, will fill the gap. Only time will tell that.

                                       

                                      Though not the same thing, I wonder how the sales of Apple's FCPx went? Considering just the folk migrating to PrPro, that we see here, it does appear that sales would probably be down. How much? I have no clue.

                                       

                                      It reminds me a bit of the old argument: Creative Services in-house, or outsourced. Over the decades, I had many major clients. They all came to me, during the outsource phase, but many decided to go in-house at some point, and usually when they got a new CFO, who felt that the company could save big $'s. They hired creative teams, installed photo and video studios, bought tons of equipment, going so far as to add E-6 film processing lines. Then, and usually in about 5-year cycles, with a new CFO, would decide that they could save more money by outsourcing all creative work, terminating most of the creatives, the photographers, the videographers, and the lab technicians, selling the equipment at "fire sale" prices. Then the cycle would start all over again. I am sure that each scheme looked and sounded good, when the CFO did the PowerPoint presentation to the board.

                                       

                                      Hunt

                                      • 17. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                        Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                        Found the article.

                                         

                                        http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57583370-92/how-greedy-is-adobes-creative-cloud-subscript ion-not-very/

                                         

                                        While I don't accept their premise, here's what I recall seeing: "Adobe said it's got an installed base of 8.4 million customers using CS suites and 4.4 million using point products."

                                         

                                        Don't know where 24 came from (lack of morning coffee, no doubt). However, my more conservative ball park example of 10 million was in the ballpark, as was my observation that around 90% of Adobe customers have thus far sang in unison, "Take this cloud and shove it."

                                         

                                        The video thing is a sideline for me that may one day move towards more primary income. Pay the bills as a mercenary software developer and have enjoyed the results of the CFO scenarios you outlined over the years. Even though they bring it in house from time to time, there's always a call for the hired guns. Especially the old dogs with a few battle scars.

                                        • 18. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                          Especially the old dogs with a few battle scars.

                                          Yes, there were times, when I felt like one of Michael Vick's dogs... but we were usually around, when things came around.

                                           

                                          Hunt

                                          • 19. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                            JSS1138 CommunityMVP

                                            While I don't accept their premise

                                             

                                            Their premise is digging out the numbers and adding them up.  You disagree with that?

                                            • 20. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                              Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                              Jim,

                                               

                                              As a preface, the following isn't intended to be a snarky remark but merely to clarify what I meant:

                                               

                                              Premise: A previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.

                                               

                                              Their premise is in the subject line, "How greedy is Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription? Not very"

                                               

                                              Their calculation of numbers is merely in support of that premise. So as I mentioned, I don't accept their premise. And as I've demonstrated, I can spin numbers with the best of them.

                                               

                                              All companies exist for one and only one reason - to make a profit. Expecting ethics and morality because it's the nice thing to do is foolish and unrealisitc. To a certain degree, I even go along with Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good," There reaches a point, however, when greed becomes so overreaching as to be injurious to the source of revenue. More simply pot, if you kill the goose, it's a little hard on your stream of golden eggs. At that point, greed is bad for the people who care most: shareholders.

                                               

                                              If Adobe had announced that after CS 6 they would make no further feature updates ever again to their software, I doubt they'd keep their customer base over the long term. With a rental model, that's exactly what they've said to those who require perpetual licensing.

                                               

                                              The danger and inherent damage to the customer isn't difficult to see if you look, and it has little to do with the relative cost of CC vs perpetual. I'm already on record as being highly supportive of normal subscription plans. Consider this. If Apple had been going on the rental model since the beginning of FCP, when 10 came out people would still have to keep paying Apple in order to use 9, no matter how much they disliked 10. Apple would get another year's worth of implicit upgrade fees while providing no value to the customer for that year. But they have normal licensing and therefore people were free to skip the upgrade to 10, keep using 9 and not have their pockets picked in the process. If 11 is a good value, they'll get more upgrade customers. If it's not, the customer doesn't get screwed for that version, either. They can opt to not pay but still use 9.

                                               

                                              Adobe's making a move to get rid of all customers who might opt out of an upgrade, whether it's due to lack of finances or a FCP 10 - like release. They're making a play to lock in a customer base who will always pay for each and every version of product they release, whether that version is worthwhile to the customer or not, and they do this by removing all future choice. Ballsy. Predatory, excessively greedy (as opposed to "not very," the premise I don't accept), but ballsy.

                                               

                                              By the way, rather than speaking to the point I was actually making, you instead latched on to something I said in passing and chose to make an issue of that instead. That's fine, it's the nature of forums. However, my point that was waving around the 500k number as a way of telling the disenfranchised that their thinking was wrong and most people in fact love the cloud is invalid and rather poor math. I mention this since you're clearly fond of numbers.

                                              • 21. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                                                There are a lot of quite valid points being brought up here and in other threads but I would like to mention something I have not yet seen. Sorry if I missed it, but here goes:

                                                 

                                                There seem to be about half a million Creative Cloud licenses. Why aren't there more? Because so many people already own CS6 and there isn't a compelling reason to "upgrade" to the current Creative Cloud.

                                                 

                                                Oh, there are some reasons to subscribe but not enough just yet for most people. If you have CS6 why subscribe to CS6 unless you really need one or two of the other programs only offered through the Creative Cloud or you have new requiremets?

                                                 

                                                Once there is only one way to get the new Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop and the rest, that is when we will know how many people will subscribe. One thought is that a lot more people will subscribe than would have upgraded to the new version for a lot more money. So Adobe will be proven correct.

                                                 

                                                Or, they can hear crickets in the hallways of Adobe's offices as they wait for people to subscribe and they figure out that they made the New Coke mistake. At that point, Adobe Classic here we come.

                                                 

                                                However, claiming that the 500K licenses means something is just not accurate. It only means that 500K decided to subscribe instead of upgrade. The rest upgraded.

                                                 

                                                Right?

                                                • 22. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                  Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                                  Steven,

                                                   

                                                  You make a good point about CS6 owners having no compelling need for the cloud just yet. Someone speculated that most of that 500k were probably people with a single product or new customers, which as you say wouldn't really be upgrading.

                                                   

                                                  I wish I could loan Adobe a Tardis. I don't think this is going to end well. However, I also think they won't reverse this mistake until they lost enough business to realize the cost. Unfortunately, by then a great many people will already be gone and the damage will be irreversible.

                                                  • 23. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                    Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                    Steven,

                                                     

                                                    Good point about CS 6. A more valid number will be after the CC release of CS 7 (or whatever).

                                                     

                                                    I am sure that Adobe will be monitoring those numbers VERY closely.

                                                     

                                                    Hunt

                                                    • 24. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                      Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                                      By the way, Steven - in my case I actually do have a compelling reason to upgrade. I'm on CS4 and was planning to upgrade to CS6 this year, primarly for the 64 bit architecture & ability to access more memory.

                                                       

                                                      As many have mentioned, I could just upgrade to CS6 if I don't like the clould and use it forever. However, very few people will buy a software product that's been declared dead, and that's in effect what I'd be getting with a CS6 purchase.

                                                      • 25. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                        Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                        Chris,

                                                         

                                                        That points out a potential problem with counting the user-base for CS 6, after the recent announcements.

                                                         

                                                        Dead-end software, like the first release of an OS (before SP-1), is often shunned. Same for the first year's release of an automobile with a major redesign.

                                                         

                                                        Hunt

                                                        • 26. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                          Chris,

                                                           

                                                          Hit a paywall on the wsj article link

                                                          Hm-m, worked fine for me. Wonder if maybe my wife has a WSJ subscription on this laptop, or something?

                                                           

                                                          Sorry about that,

                                                           

                                                          Hunt

                                                          • 27. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                            Community Member

                                                            Well, you're also looking at the mercury playback stuff as well as 64bit and ram and speed etc... so there's a lot of difference between 4 and 6 IMO. Depending on your source material and your desire ( to edit others work with different cameras etc than you're using ? ) and all that stuff... it may not be a stupid program to buy now... not " dead ".

                                                            However, there is a finite amount of product available now according to this stuff going on. It's no longer being shipped to places like B&H and when retailers run out..thats all folks.

                                                            Then there's the DL access to cs6.. but that won't last long either if what I hear is going forward.

                                                            It's either sink or swim now with CS6 IMO. And I decided to buy it and swim with my own little world of movie making. And if that fails I'll go anywhere but a subscription svc ONLY so I can keep control of my workflow and platform and not introduce more variables that could embarrass me with clients. I have enough problems being ME and being insecure about my own work .. I don't need some stupid software company introducing yet MORE unknown things to my workflow.

                                                             

                                                            " Oh, did I just screw up with this transition and render , or was this the last update ? "

                                                            " Oh, that looks HORRIBLE, what happened ? Gee, I just upgraded between projects and now I see artifacts on this export ?? "

                                                            " Oh my GOD ! I just missed the plane to go to Bill Hunts Trout ranch for vacation ! "

                                                             

                                                            I got enough things to worry about here..and missing the plane aint part of it.... forgettaaboutit !

                                                             

                                                             

                                                             

                                                            hehe.. Honestly I have to drive instead of fly cause I HATE HATE HATE flying now.

                                                            It's like being on a cattle car and I wanna MOOOO at my fellow passengers.

                                                            • 28. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                              Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                                              No worries on WSJ, the point was worth making even without the link.

                                                               

                                                              Yeah, there's plenty of value to go CS6 from CS4 but the upgrade would be a significant chunk of money. If I have to spend it, I think I'll spend it with Avid. I can't see handing over money to a company on this path.

                                                               

                                                              Fortunately, my money still comes from software development and video is a sideline I'm just starting to build. All the guys who make a living with this stuff have much harder decisions to make. Except for the trout ranch thing. That sounds pretty serious.

                                                              • 29. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                                I can't see handing over money to a company on this path.

                                                                I have seen many, similar comments in the various CC-only threads, and not just in The Video Lounge and PrPro Forums. Not sure how many will continue to feel that way in six months, but there is a bit of a backlash right now.

                                                                 

                                                                Good luck with your decisions.

                                                                 

                                                                Hunt

                                                                 

                                                                BTW - I left AVID, many years ago (and many versions ago), for PrPro, and never really looked back - at least not until now.

                                                                • 30. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                  Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                                                  Honestly not wild about the prospect of Avid. Boris plugins are two to three times the cost of their AE brethren and I suspect everything for that platform is more expensive "just because." I also have friends who tell me Avid is just as buggy as Premiere.

                                                                   

                                                                  That said, I'm running out of options. There's FCP, but even if 11 reverts back to something the community loves, I'm a Windows shop. There's Adobe, who wants to tax me for the rest of my life. And there's Avid.

                                                                   

                                                                  Are there other options out there which cover Premiere / AE functionality at a professional level?

                                                                  • 31. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                    Community Member

                                                                    Chris, you're getting ahead of yourself and also cutting yourself short at same time.. out of sync with your future.

                                                                    First off all your work so far has been a one horse show. You write, script, schedule, cast, shoot and edit. I know you have many times told me I need to think like an " indie " ( as if that makes a difference , which IMO it doesn't but that's besides the point ..what you mean is 'budget and product ' ).

                                                                    As you move on doing what you do ( and have proven you CAN do on your own ) your potential for clients and product budgets and interactivity with others ( agency, etc .. no matter if it's broadcast or webcast or whatever )... will grow WITH YOU.

                                                                    As THAT happens your interactivity with others also grows ( like maybe you write, script, shoot and someone else edits with your help as consultant ( director , whatever ).

                                                                    Let that happen. Don't lock yourself into a one horse show just cause you love the control and the " indie " thing. There is NO DIFFERENCE. It's just bigger with more people on the 'team' with bigger budgets. YOUR HEAD AND HEART is in the same place at that point.. it just gets more BIGGER.

                                                                    Hard to explain.

                                                                    You don't have to worry about 4 years from now, you have to think about NEXT year. And CS6 would probably do that for you.  IMO.

                                                                    Think short term first and incorporate long term when your short term is part of a long process ( part of the long term )... Don't think long term as if your short term dicatates that. With you talent and energy just think of tools and use those that work now ... some client will pay for you to deal with bigger better tools as it happens... you know ?

                                                                     

                                                                     

                                                                    • 32. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                      Community Member

                                                                      well, that made no sense at all now that I read what I wrote...

                                                                       

                                                                      so when can we all go to Bill's Trout Ranch and meet Ricky the " biting horse from hell " ? and have some FUN ! ???

                                                                      I am pretty good with animals and I bet I can teach Ricky NOT to bite my foot when I'm in the saddle. Ricky will become a better horse for my intervention.

                                                                      I am also a FISH IDIOT , which means we should be on the same wavelength ( me and a fish ) whether I am wrecked on coors lite or NOT.

                                                                      I'm just guessing but I bet it would be a really wonderful week at the Lodge.

                                                                       

                                                                      Especially if there are some nice people there who love me no matter what.

                                                                       

                                                                      Well, not that I'm like those movie stars who tax the public's generosity of Christian and other religious compassion etc.. but you know... maybe I might yell out , " I OWN MALIBU ", or, :" DO YOU KNOW MY NAME ! ? " , or " WE BUILT THIS CITY ! " , etc..

                                                                      or.....

                                                                      hmmmm, I bet Bill has some good tunes to play for us !

                                                                       

                                                                       

                                                                      • 33. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                        Dave LaRonde Community Member

                                                                        Are there other options out there which cover Premiere / AE functionality at a professional level?

                                                                         

                                                                        I will assume you have already ruled out Sony Vegas as a tool for hobbyists.

                                                                        • 34. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                          Community Member

                                                                          that seems to be the big question these days..

                                                                          hobbyists vs professionals

                                                                          those are 2 very different markets. I am not saying a hobbyist is less creative or produces a lesser 'product' in any sense of that word vs pro. I am only saying that the time frame to work with paying clients and a workflow that is a business vs a hobby is very different.

                                                                           

                                                                          A hobby person can afford glitches and time problems ( delivery of product etc )

                                                                          A pro cannot or he loses that client.

                                                                           

                                                                          Its really that simple.

                                                                           

                                                                          IN terms of " quality" half the people who watch this stuff wouldn't know the difference anyway. They watch on tiny mobile devices and or big screen flatscreens..,. and wouldn't know zone 5 from zone 10.. people are consumers and " numbers". Not too many people know much more than " I know what I like, and don't like, and that is my take on life ".

                                                                           

                                                                          This whole subject is for hobbyists and pros totally abstract.

                                                                           

                                                                          No one in the pro world is now looking at Adobe as a viable solution to the future of any serious media distribution system.

                                                                           

                                                                          The CEO 'adding value' just blew his head off ....in public ...

                                                                          • 35. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                            Christopher Duncan Community Member

                                                                            Here's another what if scenario. What if Microsoft made you pay monthly for Windows?

                                                                             

                                                                            If you were running XP, you would have had to pay for the Vista upgrade even though you had no intention of installing it. And today, you'd be paying for Windows 8, even if you wanted to keep running Windows 7. And should you be on an older box that doesn't even meet the hardware requirements for anything past XP (there are a lot of folks still running XP), you'd nonetheless pay for Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. You could still use your copy of XP, but you'd get no value in return for years of money spent.

                                                                             

                                                                            Of course, you could just quit paying MS for your Windows Cloud Subscription. You have that option. At which point, you computer would no longer boot because Windows would shut down. After all, you're no longer renting the software.

                                                                             

                                                                            In such a scenario, Congress, the DOJ and who knows how many other federal agencies would be all over Microsoft levying heaven only knows what charges against them. You know they would - we saw DOJ go after them with the much lesser issue of Internet Explorer back in 2000.

                                                                             

                                                                            And yet, Adobe can do the exact same thing to their customers.

                                                                             

                                                                            I see no difference in the scenarios, other than the fact that Adobe is (currently) getting away with it.

                                                                             

                                                                            I don't see that this is really any different than the DOJ going after MS over IE. After all, there were plenty of other browsers that users could install and make the default. But the government went after them just the same. At issue was the fact that MS had their customers over a barrel.

                                                                             

                                                                            Just like Adobe does today.

                                                                             

                                                                            If Microsoft can be taken to task by the federal government over unfair trade practices and coersion of its customer base due to its dominent position in the marketplace with something as trivial as a web browser, it seems like it would be much easier to make a case against Adobe, who is currently abusing their customer base due to a dominent position in the marketplace.

                                                                             

                                                                            I really see no conceptual difference between the two. Wonder if the feds will.

                                                                            • 36. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                              joe bloe premiere Community Member

                                                                              Christopher, you are a force for sanity in this thread.

                                                                               

                                                                              An excellent point well made.

                                                                              • 37. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                                Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                                                Chris,

                                                                                 

                                                                                That was actually proposed by Bill Gates, maybe 8-10 years ago (did not Google it), and the idea was that computers would NOT get an OS, but rather an extended BIOS. When one fired up the computer, it would go onto the Internet, connect to Redmond, then download the OS, which would disappear, when the computer was shut down, or rebooted. Without an always-on Internet connection, no computer would be able to run. Also, as one would NOT be able to actually buy an OS, they would be at the mercy of Redmond for whatever was available, Vista, Win8, whatever.

                                                                                 

                                                                                Being the conspiricy theorist, that I am, I kept wondering what would happen if Mr. Gates woke up in a very bad mood, and just shut down the servers in Redmond - or what if the world superpowers were not doing what he deemed necessary, and he just shut down all PC computers on Earth, until they agreed with him - banks, the NYSE, the NIKKEI, air traffic controllers, the Pentagon, etc., etc.

                                                                                 

                                                                                Luckily, that concept was shelved, but obviously others WERE listening.

                                                                                 

                                                                                Hunt

                                                                                • 38. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                                  shooternz Community Member

                                                                                  Strange ...

                                                                                   

                                                                                  Microsoft used to be the insidious , invasive one. Much reviled and detested in their manipulative predatory practices.

                                                                                   

                                                                                  Now...look at the number of companies that have exceeded the worst of MS in bucket loads.

                                                                                   

                                                                                   

                                                                                  Just sayin'.

                                                                                  • 39. Re: Is Adobe no longer selling traditional licenses?
                                                                                    Stan Jones CommunityMVP

                                                                                    I just responded in another thread re upgrading from CS4 to CS6. CS4 does not appear to be eligible for "upgrade," which is what I think you are saying re "significant chunk of money." It is an "upgrade" but ultimately it is a new purchase of CS6 Production Premium or whatever. A difficult decision, but I do think there were advantages to CS5, CS5.5, and then CS6 at each step. Ultimately, however, it is only worth it if there is not a newer perpetual license at the CC level.

                                                                                     

                                                                                    I have been a buy every 3 cycles, but at the right moment to get the skipped version with the next included at no charge. (e.g. I have CS3, and buy CS4 just before CS5 and get CS5 "free"; buy CS5.5 and get CS6). I did not anticipate the "no more new features with perpetual licenses," but I did pass on the first round of Creative Cloud and buy CS5.5 (and therefore CS6) in the belief that I needed a more "modern" perpetual license version should I not be able to afford any later versions.

                                                                                     

                                                                                    I hope Adobe comes up with an option for the CC future that allows subscribers to buy a perpetual license for any particular version - as discussed in some of the threads here, it would be the one where you decide to stop the subscription, but if that is allowed, it could be an option for almost any version, whether you discontinued the subscription or not.

                                                                                     

                                                                                    I hope, because it is such an issue of trust, that Adobe finds a way to apply the AVCHD spanned clip fix to CS6. I believe it is a bug, and Adobe has promised to continue support of CS6 regarding bug fixes. "Yes. Adobe will continue to make Creative Suite 6 available as a perpetual software license, and will provide bug fixes and security updates as necessary." http://www.adobe.com/products/cs6/faq.html#upgrade-eligibility

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