Adobe Abandons Creative Suite for Creative Cloud

I just loaded CS4 onto a new computer at home yesterday. I use the same at work pretty regularly. I would hate to have to purchase any cloud-based product at all...I don't believe in it.

I cannot have my data anywhere it could possibly be breached...no chances at all...and I surely don't want to publicly share anything that is of nobody else's concern.

It's a big hit to privacy in my mind.

I think that it is just another way to extract more money for the same, or worse, service, repackaged to be unfamiliar to current users and something that adds absolutely no value to the software, ala Bill Gates and his "let the end user de-bug it" philosophy.

It will not benefit me in any conceivable way.

And as cuba_pete said, you can kiss security goodbye! Might as well just publish all your banking and financial information and go underground!

I am not sure I like that fact that we are not given a choice - they are just saying that they will only be selling the subscription based programs, that's it, end of discussion. I like having my own version of software rather than renting the use of it and do not entirely trust the cloud.

According to Scott Morris, senior director of product marketing for Creative Cloud, "The majority of subscribers were positive on renewing their annual Creative Cloud subscription, despite the potential price increase to $50 per month." They apparently did not survey the customers who use the Creative Suite software and ask them whether they would mind switching to the cloud subscription version. If they had, I wonder if the results would be the same.

NEVER believe anything that a, "senior director of product marketing" says when they are pitching a new reworked dubious marketing scheme.

$50.00 a month price increase?????? For what?

You've all been hearing the term "The Cloud" for awhile now... What the F&#K did you think it meant. Adobe is giving us an excellent example of how the cloud will work. This is a portent of how (if it succeeds) you will use your PCs in the future, basically as dumb terminals.

On one hand, it ties you to a particular company and their ability (or lack there of) to consistently support its users on the Internet. In other words, "Will it be available when I want it?" On the other hand, Adobe products have always been expensive, making them unavailable to many potential users. And while $50.00 per month is on the high side, many people may be able to afford that as opposed to a one-time hit of several thousand dollars. Plus, from what I understand you get access to ALL Adobe apps for that price.

In the end, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. However, I do know it will all shake out when we vote with our money.

their ability (or lack there of) to consistently support its users on the Internet

So when they screw up, and all major companies do from time to time, where does that leave the end user ? Probably paying to have an alternative backup system.

Monthly subscription ? It doesn't have to be that way - lifetime user agreement for a one off fee maybe, but then that doesn't rake in as much money. Not a good comparison, but how would it go down if people could only rent cars ? A moot point, since cloud computing is inevitable. If it stops software piracy, products will be cheaper. Trouble is, it's unlikely that any company will pass that financial advantage back to legitimate users.

Like it or not, it's where we're going.

To be fair, you can run all the programs perfectly fine offline (even with this new subscription model). You have to have internet at least once every new month to verify that you're still an existing customer.

Apparently, they got tired of having burst profits and would prefer to have continual revenue. The stock owners liked it, so it's hard to persuade them to use any other sort of reason for or against it. For a better comparison, I like drawing the parallel to other software we buy, such us whole operating systems via Microsoft. What if you had to pay 10$ a month or your computer wouldn't boot? Anarchy.

To be fair, you can run all the programs perfectly fine offline

Funnily enough I was making a similar point with somebody on another forum (sorry, I sometimes stray ). Most of my old computers are stashed, and can still perform the majority of desktop tasks that I want. Not quite so fancy as current versions of various software, but they can do it to a useable standard. It would be very funny to see if I could get an oldie running on the internet, but I don't feel like going mad trying to hook up WFWG right now !

vermin is quite right - the way ahead is with home computers becoming nothing more than a dumb terminal. A keyboard that does nothing more than chop into some internet service provider. Pay the the monthly fee, as well as a fee to the people providing the software one uses.....it isn't going to be cheaper, better, or more secure.

I can always get one of my stash to boot, but connecting to the internet is a different kettle of fish. Quite possible, if you don't mind the screaching modem signals, but a right pain in the rear. Given that the majority of internet users don't know anything more than 'press the buttonm and it works', I wonder how this will pan out. Either people cough up the money in desperation, or companies that rely on internet traffic are in for a huge shock. It's a pending change that will happen, but I wonder if various companies involved have considered the consequences well enough.

The UK's crippled snail-mail service are probably rubbing their hand in glee. As for myself, I'm reading up on homing pigeons. Albatros for the transalantic are proving to be problematic

I was apprehensive of the cloud thing when it first came out and resisted,,,but am using it now and I think it's great....Everything is available on any device you have automatically, everything is backed up automatically, it's a real time saver and requires 0 effort....win win

Still going-around to this day, is an ethnic slur that goes: "How does a (omit-slur) say 'F_-k You!'...?" and the 'response-answer' is: "Truuust me!"

[Shame on the originator of such a statement]

Nonetheless, I myself can't think of a more appropriate analogy to "The Cloud".

Trust it with your whole heart, and it will swallow you, digest you, and spit you out into the great spitoon...!

Another article was recently posted, of the same suit:

The Promise and Peril of the 'Data-Driven Society'

It begins with :

"A small group of academics, business executives and journalists gathered at the M.I.T. Media Lab last Thursday, and the purpose was to toss out ideas and discuss the concept of "Data-Driven Societies."

"...the chairman of the FCC in the Clinton administration, observed that Big Data played a major role in the last election - a reference to the Obama campaign's deft use of data analysis to identify potential Obama voters and encourage them to cast their ballots."
"You get elected with Big Data, but you govern without it," Mr. Hundt said. "How much sense does that make?"

and ends with:

"At some point, you're in the hands of the algorithm," observed John Henry Clippinger, chief executive of the Institute for Data Driven Design, a nonprofit research and educational organization. "You're whistling in the dark if you don't think that day is coming."

MY QUESTION IS : To whom-all is Free-and-Unlimited-Access to anybody and everybody's "Big-Data" going to be given?!

Who is going to "Police" the monstrosity, to insure that ONLY the "Right" people are given said access, and, that they ONLY use it in "appropriate" fashion?

And THEN, WHO is going to "Set-The-Standard" for "what-is-appropriate"...?

It surely *IS* a "Great-and-awesome-fun-ride" ... this "amusement-park-thrill" ... riding the wave of a society that is screaming down the privacy-scorching slide.

Prayers for one and all.

This is old news, but obviously the "way of the future". Guy Kawasaki postulated that computers are so significant a part of business that they will be subject to standard business forces and models.

He noted that no company ever has all the latest computers on all the desks. That often there are older models, some stashed away in back rooms gathering dust, some are not loaded with CAD and graphics equipment for a dozen reasons. Chief among them are "these programs are expensive and not everybody needs them". Computers from a few years ago are not powerful enough to handle modern apps. So he and (I think Oracle) worked to create what we call a cloud.

No more upgrades every year, you can use the same old computer. No more antivirus scans every morning at the MOST inconvenient time (ever had a project interrupted by a scheduled virus scan or an update?) And ever heard the cruel words "well, did you back up the work?" Hurricanes and local storms, external attacks and hacks, or inside sabotage and data security breaches are increasingly difficult to handle, and require more and more time and resources to counter. The idea is you can have all this security and power in a central location, and you can pay one price instead of piecemeal all over the plant. The business model screams for centralization.

Oracle is not the only one...there are many others. Adobe CS is tailor made for this approach. But Adobe is only an program...the idea of the PC ceasing to become stronger and more powerful every year is potentially a great change...and fundamentally problematic.

I guess the question would be..."would it be less expensive to upgrade every one of my companie's computers every year, or should I just purchase a subscription for what they need when they need it?" That is the question even a non-computer literate business owner needs to ask. If I were that guy (we all are to a greater or lesser extent, but I can only speak for myself)...what would I choose?

the "way of the future"..... Do you hear it...? The VERY END of "The Aviator", Leo D's voice (as Howard H)! (Repeat, repeat, repeat)

...( we already got a million of 'em, coming at you from a Terminal near you very soon...!)

Praying for one-and-all...

Its is STILL the way of the future, no matter what you want or prefer. Not everything will be a free app for your cell phone.

If you don't like it, then get a group of your friends together, write some code, create a product and sell or rent it or just use it "in house". Nobody who is in business cares whether you can actually use the product, only if you buy it. You can beat them at their own game, or play theirs. The third option is simple...quit. Use a simpler program or application. Leave them out in the cold, out on their cloud someplace, while you continue to create without them. That is what I do.

You seem to think that the stockholders have decided that they can make more money by renting applications on an "as needed" basis than they can by selling you the whole package up front, and forcing you to get yearly updates. Is that really a solid business model? I don't think so, but your mileage may differ. I think it is a model more responsive to external forces, and is therefore more fit to survive.

It ticks me off that after FINALLY this month purchasing my very own licenced copy of Adobe Suite that it will be obsolete (or at least possibly unsupported) within two years. If I had waited a couple of years, and the option was presented to me "drop 300 bucks on this up front or pay 20 bucks a month plus a pay-per-use fee, I would have so totally picked the later option. Automatic backups, no worries about storage space on this useless old computer the boss bought for me back in 2009, that virus the kid from the second floor put on when checked his email at my workstation..... Ahh...heaven on a cloud.

Now I wonder what I can do with this old autocad I am not using....

On a side note, you seem to have somethings good to say. Why not join the CR4 team. I get testy when talking to a disembodied voice coming up from the sewers (which is how I generally feel about anonomous posters)

I agree this is a travesty.

They said the overwhelming majority of users prefer it but what I think they meant was the overwhelming majority of shareholders prefer it.

I have always been a fan of paying full price for something up front instead of "renting" or even a multi-year payment plan. For users who don't upgrade every single year it will be a huge added cost and yes they say they will still sell CS6 but for how long? And how long until files created with CC are no longer editable with CS? When that happens it will force people to "upgrade" from CS to CC.

Considering they pretty much have a monopoly there is not much anyone can do except maybe hope for the triumphant return of Corel Draw?

And when, not if, all your data is stolen or lost, who will replace it?

I think the programs are on the cloud in the aspect of updating, etc. The data has the option of being stored on the cloud, but doesn't necessarily have to go there.

I assume this because they stated that the programs can run offline without any kind of problem. The only time an online connection will be absolutely necessary is for verifying the membership once a month or so. Again, this is just an assumption so who knows! They also made a point of saying that all files will be able to be read by CS6 (but whether they continue to do that is up for debate).

Here's a couple debunked myths (by Adobe, so take it for what it's worth).

You didn't back it up on a memory stick? Darn! You didn't encrypt it? Darn.

Well boys and girls,

After ranting about how I hate "the cloud", I find that, at work, all our data is being moved to the cloud.

I still have a 250 G hard drive that I use to back up everything on my work PC, and will continue to do so, but, I guess I'll have to learn to live with the cloud.

I'll let you know when it fails.