Hey All,
Thanks for checking out the blog.
Adobe is planning to offer it’s software on-line per month to subscribers. I haven’t checked it out lately, but this is probably already in effect.
I have a few serious concerns.
- Will users pay more per user if they buy one license, than they will for say 50, 100 or 1000? Software developers model is usually licenses get cheaper as they increase in number. If so, corporations will get the software cheap and small businesses like me will pay premium prices for our software. If so, this is not very supportive of the small business designer and not very democratic.
- Will we still be able to buy a DVD and use what we purchased until we want to upgrade? The difference between buying DVDs of the software and a monthly bill for our software is it ends up being more money over time, we have to pay every month to work and if we have a slow period we still have that monthly bill!
- Will new file formats be compatible with older versions or just a subtle way of forcing us into the on-line control model being proposed? Will it be another “It let’s you save in older versions” which really means “It lets you save messed up files in older formats that strip out layers, makes bizarre clipping masks and other terrible things.”
- Is this another way of creating a digital on-line control and tracking system for Adobe? A new name for the revenue/marketing plan could be “Suppressive Adobe Dominant Intellectuals Soliciting Trapped Incapacitated Consumers” or S.A.D.I.S.T.I.C.?
- Will we see any other media and graphic design software options? Please developers give us a good alternative!
- Does Adobe have a massive team of attorneys ready to file copyright infringement lawsuits against any start-up software developers trying to compete in the design arena? Hmm.
What do you think? Is this a way for Adobe to lock us all into a monthly “subscribe or don’t work” situation with a complete monopoly of the industry?
Take care.
Mike