Creative Suite is going online ONLY

It's an interesting quandary. I was sceptical of the new subscription based pricing system initially but it actually encourages people to own a legitimate license whereas before they may have (ahem) sought the software out via alternative means (of course no Design Forums member has ever illegally obtained software).
The second boon is that, whilst you will pay more for the software in the long run compared to buying and keeping the same version, the industry (annoyingly) necessitates that you always have the latest version for those times when clients send you files that you would otherwise be unable to open.
What annoyed me about the system was the way they immediately started to introduce additional benefits like program addons etc but only to Cloud subscribers, essentially leaving full paying customers out in the cold.
All in all I think a subscription based program is better, especially given the price of the full packages and their limited shelf life.
I don’t think this is the best strategy for all software companies however and the Microsoft office subscription is far too expensive. Unfortunately, as someone who used the beta version for several months, I had to subscribe as several of the features had become invaluable to me.
 
I am glad you guys opened this discussion. I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
I subscribed to the Creative Cloud service last February and so far it has been a very positive experience. The Cloud folder is extremely useful because it updates the files' copies on the server as soon as you save them in local. I also think that the opportunity to try new software included in the offer can increase productivity, because you might find a program that solves you a problem more quickly than another. If I have something negative to say about the whole service is the fact that the customer assistance is located in India and it does not offer technical assistance. For that, you need to wait office hours (pacific timezone), so you can't count on a real 24/7 service.
As for the solution fighting against piracy, I am among those who think that indeed it works. A few students that I know subscribed thanks to the fact that they pay a small amount per month. I doubt they would have bought the DVD version.
 
wac said:
I don’t think this is the best strategy for all software companies however and the Microsoft office subscription is far too expensive. Unfortunately, as someone who used the beta version for several months, I had to subscribe as several of the features had become invaluable to me.
This is where having a parent who works in a school is a bonus, I can get ms stuff for 'education' rates, yes 365 is limited to 2 pc's versus 5 but considering the saving I could live with that. Not that I have any intention to buy another office anytime soon, the 2010 stuff (office, project, visio)I got for cheap (thanks Mom lol) is more than enough, obviously I can't claim it as a business expense or get the vat back but to be honest the saving over the retail cost more than makes up for that :)
I could get adobe stuff too but there are limitations in the t&c's preventing work use :(
 
Did they say how many licenses you get on one subscription? Because I have my desktop and my laptop, both used for design, and I'd need it on both when I do eventually succumb to CC.
Every copy of the Adobe Creative Suite I've purchased has allowed installations on two separate computers. I don't want to be paying twice in order to use it only sometimes on my laptop.
 
Levi said:
Not that I have any intention to buy another office anytime soon, the 2010 stuff (office, project, visio)I got for cheap (thanks [color=#ff0000;]Mom [/color]lol)
I didn't know you were American!
 
Hi all, HAven't been on the forum in a while, but I have come to this particular Adobe conundrum and need to seek a few opinions...
My choice is to sign up with Creative Cloud or invest in CS6. I'd be buying Design Standard, as I don't have need of the complete master collection, here is the rub. Do I pay £50 a month to use 25% of what I'm paying for or drop the lump sum? To make it worth the lump sum (in my particualr circumstances) I will need to use CS6 for the next 2-3 years to make it pay for itself completely. I don't see this being an issue.
I also believe owning the latest possible license might be an advantage if down the road Adobe suddenly decide to pull a u-turn and make further editions availbe for purchase.
I would be tempted by CC if it had more options. If you could customise your subscription to something more like the Design Standard package the advantage of the smaller monthly outlay would be a no-brainer. I don't like the idea of shelling out and not getting full value in return because most of the CS just sits there unused.
I guess I'm talking my way into buying the license, but reading your comments has helped, cheers.
Any other comments or opinions would be most welcome before I commit.
 
I'm in the same boat. I wouldn't mind paying monthly, but I don't want to pay £50 for a load of programs I'm never going to use. Its simply not good value for money. I think I'm going to just stick with what I've got until they bring out a new subscription type. It'd be great if you could customise it. Shame they're such money grabbing bastards!
 
I wouldn't say they are money grabbing... Not totally, anyway. Any corporation is all about the bottom line but I understand why the software is a high price.
There is a lot of development that goes into it, there is a certain amount of ongoing support (though the customer support in general is awful). The long and short of my point is that the cost of the software, in the grander scale is not prohibitative if you can use it properly and apply it to a creative industry business.
It's a neccesary business expense that will be recouped.
That's my situation, it has been very different in the past when I didn't have a business to support the expense.
Yes they are industry standard, this gives Adobe a certain amount of power, do they listen to thier base customers???? Who knows.
My hope is that in 3 years or so when technology has moved on, my equipment is getting slower etc, that Adobe have adapted their Cloud system to accomodate more niche businesses.
I ordered my CS6 license last week. That'll do for me. When the time comes for me to look around for software again, maybe I still won't like what I see. Maybe there will be other options? The software is just a tool, it isn't the basis of my business, my ideas and creativity are the resoures I sell to clients. I can get the same results out of gimp et al.
Right now, I'm lucky enough to be in a position to choose to purchase what I know so I don't have to change my working practices. Doesn't mean I won't choose to adapt in the future if the wind isn't blowing in a direction I can flow with.
 
I'm in exactly the same position. I only really use Ps and Ai and I've made do with CS2/CS3 for ten years. I'm thinking of buying CS6 and hoping
it will last me another ten. I don't feel the need to have every update going. Joining the cloud means spending about seven grand over ten years, and I
can't warrant that.
Ken, where did you order your CS6 from, anyone know the cheapest place to find it?
 
Best I found was CS6 Design Standrard on Amazon for £1,126.49 (Ps, Ai, Id, Acrobat)
I think buying PS & AI seperately will run around that price, but it's worth checking out, might be £100 or so, less but don't quote me on it.
I also found plenty of websites with lower prices, but I simply didn't trust. They just 'looked' off. I was willing to pay an extra £300, to know it's legit than waste £800 for something useless.
 
Thanks, Ken, my thoughts exactly.
Btw, has anyone out there actually bought anything from isoftware.co.uk?
 
I'm same as Wardy (AI & PS) but I'm still running CS and it's still fine for me.
I'm in house ATM and they bought CS6 a few months ago and the Adobe woman told me all about the cloud move.
CS6 is still going to be available to purchase though but to be honest, there's nothing in it to make me want to upgrade.
The only reason for me to is when I update my Mac as it won't run on newer ones.
Due to compatibility, CS is still the most common version to share files in Illustrator anyhow and I have to back save from CS6 when I send on a file.
 
Back
Top