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Monday, May 13, 2013

My 2 cents on new Adobe Photoshop distribution strategy

I do not like this scheme, as many others. Here I want to state my main reasons for hating it.

  • Unavailability of the software on the continuous basis. I bought my PS 5.0 a couple of years ago. I could afford it at that time. If I could afford PS now, I would upgrade. Unfortunately, for some time being, I cannot spend anything on such software - but I still need to use it from time to time. Subscription service would cut me off from the access to the tool, even if in the long term I would have paid the same amount as with the old scheme. That means, I receive less for the same.
  • The crazy pricing policy. The prices of Adobe software are crazy. When I bought PS 5, its price in Europe was about 1000 EUR, whereas in the US 600 USD (450 EUR). I am in favour in payment for good software, to reward the hard work of the developers. However, I see no justifiable reason for this discrimination against the people living in Europe or any other defined region. Such big difference is not justified by different taxation levels. Maybe some European customers are satisfied with such prices. Fortunately, I could buy my software in the US, paying the price which Adobe itself thought appropriate for its development. With the cloud  subscription service there is no defence against such rip off behaviour. Again, this subscription idea works against me, and perhaps Adobe itself - I would not have paid European price.

No matter what Adobe will say, it is clear that the new scheme is ignoring the interests of customers, and even against them. It is to make an average customer pay more for the same. It could be reasonable from Adobe's point of view and they have right to do what they please - they could put the price 100 times higher, if they wish - but saying that it is in the interest of the customer is plain stupid.

That being said, it is time to look for alternative. Reluctantly. Adobe got its position partially due to the overwhelming piracy of its software. Virtually everybody interested in computer graphics knew how to handle it. I wonder how long will it be able to keep its position on the market.