Author Topic: Subscribing to Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. by the month? (Read 7468 times)

Jo Ann Snover · « **on:** April 11, 2011, 12:12 »

See the info on Adobe's site here.

It's an intriguing thought that someone who had intermittent needs for Photoshop (or for the latest version if they didn't have it) might be able to get it for $49 a month every now and then.

What I don't get is why you'd pay $420 a year for a Photoshop subscription versus buying it. Perhaps the notion is that with the upgrade price every 18 months or so it isn't such a bad deal? I'm sure most folks here already own Photoshop, but I wonder who they're expecting will sign up for this? And does this mean that they're having a hard time flogging their overpriced upgrades?

Blufish · « **Reply #1 on:** April 11, 2011, 12:16 »

Interesting. I don't know who their target is. I have the full versions of the suite, but only upgrade every 3 - 5 years, depending on what new toys they put on it.

Starbucks · « **Reply #2 on:** April 11, 2011, 23:59 »

Purchasing a subscription could potentially let you do a tax write-off as an operating expense rather than a capital expense (in the US).

Phil · « **Reply #3 on:** April 12, 2011, 01:30 »

Quote from: Blufish on April 11, 2011, 12:16

Interesting. I don't know who their target is. I have the full versions of the suite, but only upgrade every 3 - 5 years, depending on what new toys they put on it.

many people skip versions that is why many software companies would rather everyone on a subscription. We have software at work such as arcgis and imagine that are yearly site licence. A few years back Microsoft did a trial in Australia (we get all the experiments) for windows and optionally office by subscription, it was a major flop - many shops didnt tell customers their new pc only came with a 1 year licence, lots of people didnt understand it etc etc.

madelaide · « **Reply #4 on:** April 12, 2011, 17:44 »

Is it something you do online, so you can use it on different computers?

Starbucks · « **Reply #5 on:** April 12, 2011, 17:56 »

I believe the subscription plan is for an Adobe product installed on your own computer. Normally your Adobe applications "call home" all the time to make sure the serial number is valid and unique, and this system would simply keep your serial number valid until you stopped paying the monthly charge, at which point the application(s) would stop working.

leaf · « **Reply #6 on:** April 13, 2011, 02:13 »

I'm really surprised that CS5.5 is a paid upgrade at all. I would expect it to be a free upgrade for those that already have CS5

grp_photo · « **Reply #7 on:** April 13, 2011, 05:30 »

Quote from: Starbucks on April 11, 2011, 23:59

Purchasing a subscription could potentially let you do a tax write-off as an operating expense rather than a capital expense (in the US).

same here (Germany)

bunhill · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2011, 15:10 »

Adobe software is starting to look very over-priced IMO.

Compare the price of Lightroom vs Aperture. Aperture is $80 on the App Store now. And the new version of Final Cut Pro is going to be $299 on the App Store.

Blufish · « **Reply #9 on:** April 14, 2011, 16:12 »

Adobe has been overpriced for eons. Simply, lack of actual competition. All printers, at least the ones I deal with, are all Adobe. Yes, you can make a PDF (again, Adobe), but once in a while there is a glitch and the printer has to go into the native file. Lack of actual design software competition lets them set the price. So, designers keep grumbling, and keep paying.

stockastic · « **Reply #10 on:** April 14, 2011, 18:19 »

Software companies would love to sell by subscription, because it's a predictable revenue stream and it reduces the need to 'push' upgrades in the market. I've worked for a couple of software companies that tried subscription models, and Microsoft also tried this with their developer tools.

It never works. Subscribers end up feeling they aren't getting their money's worth because the updates they by subscription don't contain enough new content and features. Software companies find it too difficult to develop and test new functionality in the short timeframes that subscribers expect.

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Author Topic: Subscribing to Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. by the month? (Read 7468 times)

Jo Ann Snover

Blufish

Starbucks

Phil

madelaide

Starbucks

leaf

grp_photo

bunhill

Blufish

stockastic

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