[Tas]

I received an email from a company that sells software and it stated the following:

"CS6 Upgrades are Ending

Adobe has announced that creative Suite licences will no longer be available, as of May 30th, 2014.

This is your last chance to upgrade to CS6 before it's gone forever."

I have CS6, but thought I'd have a quick trawl of the adobe website to verify the statement but couldn't find it (it was a quick search so it might be there). Anyhoo, I thought I'd post this as if it's true then anyone looking to buy CS6 or do the upgrade have until the end of May.

Regards,


Tas

[reeftool]

Adobe's business model is geared toward the subscription CS which is fairly reasonable right now. They are still offering the $9.99 monthly subscription for CS + Lightroom which is pretty cheap considering what CS6 sold for retail. From what I gather, they will no longer sell CS. It will be subscription only. Lightroom will continue to be sold. I would question whether buying CS6 would be a wise decision right now unless you got it for dirt cheap as I think they will force you into the subscription model anyhow. A lot of people don't like it but we have to live with it. I have seriously considered storing and editing my photos on an unconnected computer to avoid all the continual security hassles but the subscription model prevents that.

[magkelly]

If this is so then this is Adobe is going back on it's word and IMHO they deserve to lose lots of customers over it. They said that CS6 would be the last box edition but that it would remain available for people who did not want the subscription service. So basically now they're going back on that and killing CS6 entirely? It's either upgrade to CC and pay every month or forget it? Not too cool of them. This is going to cost them bigtime. You watch. The subscription thing is already unpopular but at least people still had a choice, between that and CS6. This is a bad move I think. I really do.

[boriscleto]

If this is so then this is Adobe is going back on it's word and IMHO they deserve to lose lots of customers over it.

When has Adobe ever kept its word about anything? But they did say CS would still be available, and it was, for a while. They never said how long it would be available did they?

[MD Optofonik]

Adobe will go the way of Avid. OnOne is stepping up it's game and I'm sure others will slowly emerge. It will take awhile but it will happen; always does.

[Just1MoreDave]

Adobe just announced quarterly results a couple of weeks ago. They are happy about the subscription model:

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen explained that the unexpectedly strong sales came from rapid adoption of Adobe's new cloud-based software suites. The shift away from straight-up license purchases and into renewable contract subscriptions is also working out better than planned.

They are either telling the truth and brainwashed idiots consumers are going for subscriptions, or lying for the last few quarters, which will eventually be a giant problem that may kill the company. But either path means little hope for people who want to use money to buy something and actually own it.

[MD Optofonik]

... lying for the last few quarters, which will eventually be a giant problem that may kill the company.

Just like Avid.

[reeftool]

Adobe just announced quarterly results a couple of weeks ago. They are happy about the subscription model:



They are either telling the truth and brainwashed idiots consumers are going for subscriptions, or lying for the last few quarters, which will eventually be a giant problem that may kill the company. But either path means little hope for people who want to use money to buy something and actually own it.

Some of the financial newsletters I get have recommended Adobe as a good stock to buy for retirement portfolios right now, most of it based on the new earnings figures since the subscription models went into effect. It's been good for them in the short term. The security breach wasn't a good thing and it will interesting to see how they fare over the next few quarters. Will the prices remain the same? If not, will their subscribers continue next year?

I never owned CS6 or the earlier versions. I bought Lightroom and Elements. I signed on for the special $9.99 Creative Cloud + Lightroom 5 which locks the price for a year. That's less than it costs to buy Lightroom and since it was just about a year between the releases of LR4 and LR5, I figured I had nothing to loose by subscribing. They have brought back the $9.99 CC+LR 5 monthly subscription deal and if they are increasing earnings and can continue pricing like that, then I'm going to keep subscribing. If they boost the prices, I will buy LR6 and kiss the subscription goodbye.

[boriscleto]

I will buy LR6 and kiss the subscription goodbye.

Assuming they don't make LR6 subscription only.

Remember, the first hit is always free...

[Venturi]

The next couple years will tell the tale on subscription based software licensing. It's been tried before in the enterprise world with very mixed success. (I have to assume) Adobe and Microsoft (MS Office) are betting on each others' success providing them the momentum to keep their own model viable.
I suspect that Microsoft will be a success because it has a much much larger audience and they have a stable pricing structure with very reasonable levels based on use and marketplace.
Adobe though, may have bitten the wrong apple. We're at the apex of market saturation for Creative Suite sales and Adobe had to dangle a $10 carrot in front of everyone's nose to get them to bite. That's going away by 2015 and when the price jumps from $10/mo to $15-20/mo they're going to lose a lot of subscribers.

I bought CS6 & LR5 less than a year ago, and I have no plans to go cloud. They'll either keep supporting whatever cameras I have over the next couple years or I'll find a vendor that does. And when my needs have outgrown the software I have I'll see what Adobe is offering then.
But that'll be at least 2017 now. Ironically, had they kept the non-subscription offerings alive I'd probably be looking at an upgrade of both as soon as next year.

[reeftool]

They have stated that Lightroom and Elements will continue to be sold without subscription. I know they can change their mind at any time. I really don't need Photoshop. I have used it 3 times since subscribing. I'm using LR5 daily and the total cost of the subscription comes to $119.88 plus tax for the year, less than the $149 list price of Lightroom. I see Lightroom sold for $119 in places so I figure I'm still doing better because I have Photoshop if I need it. I'll see what happens when my year is up in December.

[nkull]

I think the $10/mo deal is great, I think it is a good value and don't consider myself brainwashed or an idiot... I appreciate keeping up with advances (updates whenever they come out) and I am willing to pay for good software as long as it is reasonably priced.

I guess I never considered the outright purchase cost of CS reasonable since this is a hobby and not a business, so until this offering I never purchased it. In my opinion a monthly $10 is very reasonable considering that I probably use light room 5 times a week and I really do appreciate the idea that PS is a click away. As long as they keep it at $10/mo I will continue to buy it... But like others, I will ditch PS and just buy LR if it goes much above that since I only use PS on very rare occasions.

[mee]

They have stated that Lightroom and Elements will continue to be sold without subscription. I know they can change their mind at any time. I really don't need Photoshop. I have used it 3 times since subscribing. I'm using LR5 daily and the total cost of the subscription comes to $119.88 plus tax for the year, less than the $149 list price of Lightroom. I see Lightroom sold for $119 in places so I figure I'm still doing better because I have Photoshop if I need it. I'll see what happens when my year is up in December.

Lightroom costs around $75-80 USD around the end of November (Black Friday weekend) and the upgrade is around 75 any time of the year -- It is cheaper to buy a 'permanent' license than spend 10 a month to rent it over the long term.

The rental deal only starts to make sense if you use Photoshop.

[reeftool]

Yes, there have been specials for that price and Lightroom is also available free with the purchase of some cameras and scanners also. I still consider it a good deal for now at these prices. Lightroom alone doesn't always do what you need so you do need some more editing software or plug ins. I previously used Lightroom and Elements. Going by the last new version upgrade prices of LR at $79 and Elements at $39, you have spent the same and having Photoshop over Elements is much better. To start quibbling over that small amount of change is silly anyhow. Photography is a cheap hobby. The upgrade price of Lightroom is the same as a single day of skiing as long as you don't eat anything. The tires I just put on my Harley will buy a new Limited lens and those tires will be used up by September.

[mee]

Yes, there have been specials for that price and Lightroom is also available free with the purchase of some cameras and scanners also. I still consider it a good deal for now at these prices. Lightroom alone doesn't always do what you need so you do need some more editing software or plug ins. I previously used Lightroom and Elements. Going by the last new version upgrade prices of LR at $79 and Elements at $39, you have spent the same and having Photoshop over Elements is much better. To start quibbling over that small amount of change is silly anyhow. Photography is a cheap hobby. The upgrade price of Lightroom is the same as a single day of skiing as long as you don't eat anything. The tires I just put on my Harley will buy a new Limited lens and those tires will be used up by September.

If you can convince yourself that it makes sense.. then ok it is your cash, your call... However, financially, it is mathematically cheaper just to buy Lightroom outright than rent it as long as you plan on using it more than a single year.

rental 1st year = $9.99 * 12 months = $119.88
buying 1st year = $149.99

rental after 2 years = $119.88 * 2 = $239.76
buying after 2 years = $149.99 + $75 = $224.99

...and it continues to lower in total price so long as Adobe doesn't alter the model (they haven't for several years now) and one chooses to upgrade their perpetual license yearly (which, of course, would mean the perpetual license is much cheaper then if not upgrading continually).


That said, Photography is a cheaper hobby ($500 body + $1500 in lenses + $80 minimum decent tripod + $200 [per] external flash + $150 minimum in accessories (reflectors, filters, rocket blower, lenspen) + softboxes/diffusers + software, etc etc) than collecting famous museum art, or custom showroom cars, or owning an airplane.. SLR Photography is still very much an expensive hobby albeit cheaper than it used to be, since the adoption of digital systems.

Your motorcycle is not a cheap hobby either. Skiing is definitely not a cheap hobby unless you partake in your hobby once per year. The justification based on random 'if you stop drinking your mocha latte from Starbucks' or 'if you stop eating and can sleep standing in the janitors closet at work afterhours' generalizations don't fly since not everyone does these things and/or they are not realistic.

Just because one of your hobbies cost less to maintain than the other does not mean it is widely considered a cheap hobby..