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Adobe Creative Cloud – The future is now the present

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Adobe has announced that creative cloud is now the new Adobe model going forward. What was once an optional program is now the only method for staying up to date with the latest Adobe products. But this sweeping change is bringing some turmoil with it for many users so let’s take a look at the changes and how they might affect you.

adobe-CreativeCloud_LogoAdobe has announced that creative cloud is now the new Adobe model going forward. What was once an optional program is now the only method for staying up to date with the latest Adobe products. But this sweeping change is bringing some turmoil with it for many users so let’s take a look at the changes and how they might affect you.

What’s Changing?
Adobe has kept the CS model now for many years and the latest CS6 collection brought with it some great changes to many of Adobe’s products. Unlike most companies that sell software as individual products, Adobe’s more common structure was in the Creative Suites which were predefined groups of software products created to meet a range demands from different industries. At the top of the pack was Adobe’s Master Collection which included almost every software title that Adobe had released to date. Noticeably absent from that collection however was Adobe Lightroom which was still only available as a separate product. The problem for Adobe revolved around product releases. These groups of software meant that Adobe had to wait to release each new individual product until the new versions of all available software titles were available. So even though Photoshop CS7 may have been available and ready for release, it had to wait on the rest of the Adobe CS7 suite before it could be released. This was unfortunate both for Adobe and us users as new features were held back for months and required an entire suite upgrade before being available for use.


The Solutions?
Adobe created the Creative Cloud which allowed all Adobe products to be individually downloaded while still being grouped together in a collective suite. As a result, updates for each piece of software can be pushed out immediately over the cloud as they become available. In order to make this work however, Adobe had to revisit their pricing model. Instead of an upgrade price for new versions of the software, in order to push out new updates and features immediately, Adobe had to move to a new subscription based model. This model sets a $50/month price point to enable continuous upgrades of each and every product that Adobe offers in it. As a result of this new model, Adobe Lightroom has now been added to the Creative Cloud and is allowed to keep its separate update schedules while still being part of the entire suite.


What’s Good?
Quite a bit actually. Every CC (Creative Cloud) member now has access to every product that Adobe offers. This is going to allow Adobe to make more assumptions on how it links products as they will now be able to assume for example that CC users have access to both Lightroom & Photoshop and there will be a better workflow between products as a result. It also means that CC will only get better as new features and even completely new products are added to the lineup. To date, we have already seen completely new software products and plenty of new features become available for Creative Cloud users. We also now have a predictable price point that will help many businesses know the software expenses that were often difficult to calculate. Version control is also no longer an issue and the old times of receiving a CS6 Project file from a client while you were working on CS5 is a thing of the past. Any file you send or receive from another CC customer will be fully supported by your software. Another huge benefit is to those who work both with Windows and Mac or have been contemplating a switch. While the old Adobe CS6 products had to be purchased in Either Mac or Windows platforms, the new CC can be downloaded in either version and may be switched out as needed. In addition, the 2 included downloads with CC can be used so that 1 computer runs Creative Cloud on a mac while another computer runs Creative Cloud on a PC. This will also simplify and save cash for those who were considering switching from PC to Mac or from Mac to PC.


What’s Bad?
Change is difficult, no matter what industry you are in. This change represents a massive switch in many ways for Adobe and the push has been so strong for this change that many Adobe customers will feel mistreated. While the announcement of Creative Cloud was treated with plenty of fan fair, Adobe left the door to the old Creative Suite model wide open allowing users to choose which method worked best for them. That choice has now been suddenly taken away and many who purchased CS6 recently will surely feel pushed around. Also, gone are the product suites that were grouped for specific industries. The new Adobe model allows a single product rental for $19.99 or the full suite of every product for $49.99. For those who use more than 2 Adobe products, the option will only be the full suite of products. $49.99/month is not cheap for many existing Adobe users, especially those who already own the products. While purchasing a new version of Photoshop may cost you $700, existing Photoshop users have been enjoying upgrade prices of only $200. While the entry point to Adobe has been vastly reduced, the cost of continuing to use it will have increased for many people.


What’s Ugly
Adobe has not provided an exit strategy. What happens if $50 a month is just a bit more than your business can afford this month, what if you are a hobbyist and times are tough, what happens when you decide to retire or use these products for personal use, and what about the part time working users that typically wait until that next big paid project before upgrading to the latest version? It is not looking good for you right now. Even if you use the cloud for 5 awesome years before deciding that $50/month is no longer in your budget, either because times are tough, you are cutting back on business, retiring from professional work, or moving to part time, all of your adobe project files from the past 5 years will become essentially useless the day you stop paying the $50/month. You may be able to download a trial version to keep things going for 30 days but Adobe has not provided any method for quitting the cloud. Everyone currently has the ability to open, export, and make basic changes to a PDF document for example, even if you do not own Adobe Acrobat because Adobe has provided a free tool to allow for this. No such tool has been provided for other Adobe products however which is a grave mistake. If your future looks uncertain and you cannot guarantee a steady flow of income for the indefinite future to keep the $50/month service going, you may want to hit the brakes on Creative Cloud until Adobe provides us with an option, if they ever do. Previously, if you purchased Premiere CS5 and decided that CS6 either did not fit your budget or did not offer needed features, you could chose not to upgrade and still continue to make new projects as well as modify and export existing projects for years to come. Under the new Creative Cloud, there is no exit strategy.


What Should I do
For full time working professionals, the obvious choice is to join the cloud. The benefits will far outweigh the issues and the $50/month price point for all of your software will likely be considered a bargain.


For part time working professionals and price sensitive users, the cloud is still likely in your best interest. While $50 will be more difficult to stomach and the exit strategy will always be in the back of your mind, $50 is a small price to pay to keep things going and will likely be a workable expense. You will also get to try out some new Adobe software products that you may have previously left alone due to the high price.


For hobbyists the situation is murky at best. While the CC allows you to test and use EVERY Adobe product which could really accelerate your learning ability, the high cost and the lack of an exit plan will be difficult to justify. At the same time, the alternatives are not up to par and while there are ways to get most of the features you get with Adobe, you will be looking at separate products with different companies that may be less known in the industry.

Dear Adobe
Adobe, while I understand the need to move to the cloud based subscription system and I appreciate the awesome new tools I will have available, you should not continue without addressing an exit strategy. You need to immediately make readers for just about all if not all of your existing products in order to keep this CC method alive and not hold your users hostage in the future. This will become an increasing issue for you going forward and it needs to be addressed immediately. The recommendation of your product depends on it.
Also, while the $30/month deal for existing users is nice, please provide some additional help for those who may have purchased CS6 in 2013 and feel abandoned by your new methodology.
Lastly, please bring back grouped suites catered for certain areas of business. I would love to see a photography suite filled with Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom, and some other beneficial tools without focusing on less needed products. This would also allow a lower entry point for hobbyists and part time users who may otherwise be turned off by the high $50/month price.

Q&A

Do I need an internet connection to use Adobe CC?

No. Adobe checks every so often (once a month about) to make sure the login info is still correct but it will run the software without the internet

Does it run in the web browser?

Adobe Creative Cloud runs like any regular program and is installed on your local drive. The only difference is that the software will need to be downloaded first.

Do I have to install everything? That could take up a bunch of space.

You only need to install the programs that you would like to have. You get a list of all the software Adobe offers and you pick which ones you want. You can always add to this list later. 

What if the price increases?

This is a valid issue and Adobe still needs to deal with this confidence issue. Adobe has remained very stable with pricing in the past and this is likely to continue

What if I just bought CS6?

As of now, Adobe will let you purchase Creative Cloud for $29.99/month for all users of CS3-CS6 but there is no other deal for those who just bought CS6. This is only valid through July 31st 2013

What about students/teachers

Adobe Student/Teacher pricing is currently only $19.99 valid through June 25th 2013

What if I only need 1 product like Photoshop

You can purchase single cloud products like Photoshop for $19.99. It's not the best deal considering you get everything for $30 more but it is available. 

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