The Great Adobe Upgrade Dilemma
Like many of you, I use Adobe Creative Suite applications every day, specifically Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Acrobat Pro. These form the core of the tools I work with to maintain Graphics.com. The only significant exception is in the area of vector graphics—while Illustrator is part of Design Premium, I've never warmed to it and instead use Xara Designer Pro. I also have something else in common with more than a few of you, in that I'm not using a current version of these Adobe apps. Since I pay for the Suite myself, keeping it current, especially with new versions now being released more often, is a luxury I can't afford. But a recent shift in upgrade policy puts into question my ability to ever upgrade my applications.
I'm on record as being no Adobe basher, and in fact in my last missive I took the unpopular stance of defending the continuing existence of Flash. And yet I'd be remiss to not share my concern with the possible impacts of Adobe's recent shift in upgrade policy. What's all the fuss about? Just this. In the past it was possible to move to new versions of individual applications or Suites from ones that went back several iterations. This made it possible for me, and many others, to move from the initial Creative Suite to 2 and then 4. So I was looking forward to moving to 6 when it was released next year.
But that possibility was rudely shattered with the announcement at the Adobe MAX conference earlier this month that unless you were the lucky owner of 5 or 5.5 you would have to pay full price for moving to 6. Stop and think about that for a moment. With 5.5 due to be replaced in a matter of months, we're now forced to purchase an upgrade we don't want, near the end of its lifespan, so that we can then soon purchase... another upgrade. There's something rather diabolical about that.
I've been waiting for a hailstorm of complaints from Adobe's customers but to date this has yet to manifest itself. The only objection to the new policy I've come across has been an open letter to Adobe from Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, who is no doubt concerned about a scenario in which his members stay parked forever on old versions of Photoshop. Not much need for new tutorials, books or conferences in that case, is there? In fact the entire infrastructure of book authors and trainers will be affected, not to mention websites like Graphics.com that publish more than a few articles and news items devoted to the Suite. What's the point of continuing in that direction with a greatly-reduced number of people moving to 6?
Because that will be the likely outcome of such an upgrade policy. Adobe has decided to refocus on its conception of its customers—either pros at the high end or consumers—with the little fish in the graphics pond left to flounder for themselves. Whether that's a good business decision or not, only time will tell. But it's always sad to see a corporation throw an entire market segment under the bus, especially one that for two decades sustained and breathed life into its products.
But here we are. Up to you, now, how to react. You're certainly free to make your thoughts known to Adobe, whether indivually or in an organized manner. Myself, I'm trying to decide whether to take advantage of Adobe's current offer to upgrade applications or Suites to 5.5, which ends November 29. Or should I hang in there and see if the Creative Cloud-based subscription model is more attractive when Creative Suite 6 ships next year. And you?
Chris Dickman
Editor, Graphics.com
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“I've been waiting for a hailstorm of complaints from Adobe's customers but to date this has yet to manifest itself. The only objection to the new policy I've come across has been an open letter to Adobe from Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals,”
I think the main reason for no real outcry is, no one really knows. I only found out via GDF, and then an e–mail that was sent by NAPP. which had the letter in it. I have not heard anything on Facebook, twitter, or any other Social media sites out there.
Once people find out I really think there will be a huge outcry.
This is one of the problems with software companies. They keep upgrading when many of us like what we use. It does the job for us and any of the new features may not concern any of us. Adobe isn't the only one.
I'm with you on this. Adobe continues to make it more and more difficult to stay loyal to them. They seem to delight in treating us with contempt. First they shortened up the "support window"...now the upgrade window. WAY to greedy!
I personally hate upgrading anyway. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I use CS5 at work but wouldn't have worried if we stayed with CS4. I still only have Photoshop 7 at home and it works fine.
The fact is that programs have gotten so much more sophisticated in recent years, you have to wonder what else can be packed into them anyway.
Maybe this has something to do with the new upgrade policy - we have to be given a good reason to upgrade and what better reason than a hit to your wallet.
I mostly use InDesign (CS4) with a bit of Acrobat and Photoshop thrown in. There were no good reasons to upgrade to CS5 or CS5.5 and CS6.x is a complete unknown; an EXPENSIVE complete unknown.
Therefore, I will stick with InDesign CS4, or shift to Pages (which is usable) unless CS6.x offers some incredibly useful things. This seems unlikely so I will just remain with CS4 for the foreseeable future.
This is pretty awful. To upgrade to 5.5 from CS3 Premium would cost me over $900 or $100 a month for a year if I choose the subscription method. No way I can afford that in this economic climate.
p.s. Your Captcha is awful. I had to do this three times to get it right
In today's economy it's truly unfortunate that Adobe would rewrite their upgrade policy in this manner. This move will drive many to examine other software avenues; the suite is already priced WAY beyond what the average household (not corporate) can afford.
Can you say Microsoft? Sure, I knew you could. Forcing new editions and upgrades down our throats because they can't sell enough to keep the overpaid CEO ($5.4 million in 2009) and stock holders in cash.
I am the rare professional photographer who does not use Adobe products on a regular basis. I will go out of my way to find non-Adobe solutions. This started because Adobe forced photographers to upgrade their Photoshop instead of releasing a patch to allow them to use newer versions of camera RAW.
There are other solutions out there. Some are better. And many of the other vendors will offer you an upgrade price if you have a competitive product.
This is very sad... I loves my InDesign. But, like many others, I can only afford to upgrade every other version or so. As you say, I may never be able to afford a new copy. Especially of Illustrator and Photoshop which I use a bit less frequently.
Hi, the new upgrade policy stinks! The November 29 offer isn't all that great either - I think they rely on people to not shop around. I recently upgraded from CS4 to CS5.5 and found it was cheaper to go through an external reseller (I used Software Time) ordered online, received the software to my door a few days later- all done and dusted and a couple of hundred $ saved. I love the Adobe products and have been a loyal user for years but what reward is offered for being loyal and buying direct (zip!) Melissa ;}
Chris Dickman responds: Interesting you found the upgrade cheaper by shopping around, that wouldn't have occurred to me. Your point is a good one regarding customer loyalty. For example, if I move to the subscription model at some point, I'd like to see a discount reflecting my past purchase of licenses. I'd be surprised if Adobe isn't monitorng customer response at this point, so I remain cautiously optimistic.
I just posted my opinion on their Facebook page. See where that goes, hopefully more will do the same!
Adobe (and Apple) release and obsolescence cycles are being driven by Wall Street.
Just like everything else.
But here is the real beast: us.
Alpha nerds, computer geeks and digital creatives heavily skew toward the "gottahavethenewestlatest" mentality. First up in the buying curve. We are a marketing person's wet dream. All you have to do to get a sale out of us is to create a new curve.
I think this is why you heard no complaint.
My crew wanted CS4 and couldn't even tell me why. I could not hold them back at CS5. Had to spend 8500. They use only one of the new CS5 tools with any frequency.
Stock Value and Nerd Lust taken together deliver:
QC in the market place, unnecessary updates, incompletely tested and wonky (even failure prone) products, and ever shrinking backward compatibility.
It won't change until we change it.