Lightroom bites the dust ... my reading of the comments in the link above is that LR will continue to be available in its current non-subscription form for the foreseeable future. But, new enhancements to the product will be made on LR products that are only available by subscription. Am I interpreting this correctly? Because that would be a big disappointment to me. Do you think LR 5 will be the last non-subscription version of LR?
A year ago, when they introduced the CC, they said that Ps would be available both ways, but just not in a box shipped to you. How long did that last. Anyone who thinks that LR will stay more than a year or two with perpetual licensing is only fooling themselves.
While I don't trust Adobe either after this latest change, I do think there are market factors that may make them hold onto the perpetual license for LR for a while. It is a lower priced product that overlaps more solidly into the general consumer/hobbyist space and where there is fairly decent competition (Capture One, DXO, etc.).
If Adobe wanted to continue its "smart like a crack dealer" strategy though, what you might see is LR being completely moved to CC but at zero or very low cost. That would probably attract a lot of users and start to get them hooked into the Adobe eco-system. It would also make life very difficult for the Phase Ones and DXOs out there.
Anyone who thinks that LR will stay more than a year or two with perpetual licensing is only fooling themselves.
+1
I said it before, and I'll say it again: Adobe has no choice but to move ALL of their products to a subscription model. All of Adobe's programs are mature products, and there isn't much they can do to convince perpetual license customers to upgrade on a regular basis. Adobe needs a constant revenue stream, and they're hoping the subscription model provides it.
I'm not sure it would be smart of Adobe to move LR to the cloud. It is much easier to switch from LR to a competitor (e.g. Aperture) than from Photoshop/CS to a competitor.
I said it before, and I'll say it again: Adobe has no choice but to move ALL of their products to a subscription model. All of Adobe's programs are mature products, and there isn't much they can do to convince perpetual license customers to upgrade on a regular basis. Adobe needs a constant revenue stream, and they're hoping the subscription model provides it.
John
So because they can no longer innovate their products, should they just continually charge for what we already have? I understand the business reason for this, but I can't see any way this is good for the consumer. What is going to motivate Adobe to improve their products when money is rolling in while they do nothing?
I understand the business reason for this, but I can't see any way this is good for the consumer.
I'm not trying to justify Adobe's decision with regard to its impact on the customer. The subscription service seems to be a financially advantageous arrangement for certain types of photography and video companies, but for most independent users it's a terrible deal. I'm just saying I understand why Adobe has chosen the subscription model: they probably couldn't survive as a business if they continued to sell software with a perpetual license.
Sunny Sra wrote:
I hated the day Adobe bought out Pixmantec and converted it to LR. I hope those guys leave and start another pixmantec and kick Adobe in the nuts.
I loved RawShooter, too, but one can't deny Adobe threw their resources at it and LR is far better in every way. I do agree it would be quite a coup if some Adobe engineers broke away and gave us a new option. A shame what happened with Bibble, as well, but I think they made their own bed with Bibble 5, and got what was coming to them. The Corel version is still junk, regardless of what it's named.
