jamesf99
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 p.3 #10 · Adobe is not going to allow upgrading from older versions with CS6 | |
Adobe's policy is designed to change their fundamental business model.
For those wondering if Adobe cares about its customers, they don't. They're in business to make money and we're nothing but a line on the spreadsheet. Anyone that thinks differently is kidding themselves. We may have had loyalty to Adobe (12-13 years for me), but they have none to their customers. You are a number, nothing more.
As anyone that has been paying attention knows, there is NO other competitive solution available today (and Corel, Raw Therapee, C1, Gimp, et. al. are not going to do it). These other quasi-solutions, are less effective, compromised, come with far fewer features, etc. None will effectively use layered PSD files, smart objects, etc. (unless something came out last night while I was sleeping). Adobe knows this; they bought the competition with an eye to become a monopoly (something all corporations are striving to achieve).
Make no mistake about their plans either. This *IS* the warning shot across the bow. Their subscription model is their idea for the future, and CS6 is the transition period, not CS7 or CS8. Adobe wants to turn their software into a perpetual (or at least known) revenue stream. They don't want to tie their fate to their own ability to offer new, useful, features or improvements, they want a guaranteed income even if they don't offer anything new (and I read Adobe admitted the deblur demo was faked). Their desired model will prevent you from dropping them because the day your subscription runs out, the software shuts off leaving you unable to edit your files.
The notion of selling photoshop for $70 is untenable. Any business would prefer to have 10 customers paying $100 each compared to 100 customers paying $10 each, and this is key. Additional benefits (to Adobe) include:
1) Adobe will effectively be able to reduce their support costs (dropping all old software and customers as well as support personnel).
2) They eliminate all manufacturing/distribution costs since you don't get a box.
3) they will completely kill the "resale" market (you've always been able to resell your copies).
4) they eliminate piracy when you can only run their software while logged on to their site (say goodbye to working "untethered' in the studio like I did for 3 years).
5) They eliminate the middle man. No more discounting the software to a retail vendor (e.g., instead of getting $350 for PS when they sell it to Newegg, Frys, Amazon, et,. al, they get $700 because no one else has the right to carry it). They can lose 50% of their retail customers and make the same amount of money.
I wish there was an alternative today, but it's pretty simple; Adobe is a near monopoly and wants their customers held hostage. Monopolies are NEVER good for customers, and we find ourselves in a world where there is less and less competition everywhere (cell phones, stores, you name it, the world is shrinking). And no, no savior will magically appear; the barriers to entry are too high and Adobe knows it. No one is going to write 20 years of development code in 6 months, or even 2-3 years. Many of us are over a barrel and Adobe knows it.
Personally, I've upgraded every time since 5.0, and have purchased/owned multiple copies of both Design and Web Premium suites simultaneously. I may get CS6, but I'm done. I will never pay Adobe for a subscription. Adobe knows this, and has already factored in the loss of x% of their customers (see 5 above); in the meantime, they will raise the price to more than cover any losses.
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