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November 25, 2013
Wait, what part of Adobe’s new photography deal is “limited time”?
The sign-up window is limited; the price is not.
- Everyone (regardless of whether you own previous Adobe apps) can sign up by next Monday (Dec. 2) to get Photoshop CC & Lightroom 5 the $9.99/month price.
- Anyone who owns Photoshop CS3 or higher can sign up by Dec. 31.
- The price itself isn’t limited. That is, it won’t be going up in a year. (Adobe has no plans to raise the price at all, but we can’t say that it’ll never go up—e.g. for inflation—or down.)
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Other than you will now make another 100,000,000 people “professional” photographers with PS, is it the extended version or regular? I am getting out of the photography business and going to be an ‘imagineer’ :) :) :(
Name one (1) item in the Adobe line-up, or one (1) time in the history of Adobe, that software prices have gone down.
[See examples just posted below. –J.]
If that is not possible, can you do the same for any other item in the software or hardware industries (and new versions of products, e.g., iPad 4 v. iPad Air, doesn’t count)?
If still no, can you name one item with a subscription-model pricing structure that has gone down in price?
I just love Adobe’s marketing expertise. First was the second-class-citizen jabs at users for being uncool for not initially subscribing to Adobe CC—and now Adobe is trying to spin the legitimate fear that Adobe is going to pull a cable TV contract or credit card offer gimmick of jacking prices after the initial subscription period is over.
[I’m not trying to “spin” anything. I’m trying to tell you what the plan is. As I’ve noted elsewhere, we’ve all been screwed by the cable company, insurance company, etc. Adobe’s plan is not to do the same. –J.]
Lightroom 1.0 was $299
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200701/012907Lightroom.html
and was down to $149 for 4.0
http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2012/03/lightroom-4-0-now-available.html
After Effects at one point cost $1999 (2.0 — 1993 dollars) and a permanent license for CS6 is $999 (2013)
There are surely more.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/03/adobe-releases-lightroom-4-with-improved-features-150-price-drop/
The price of memberships has gone down version over version while also adding value:
PS CS5.5 $29.99/month
PS CS6 $19.99/month (10GB of storage)
PS CC Photography Program $9.99/month for PS and LR + Behance Prosite and 20GB of storage)
Suite pricing also went down while also adding value:
Design Premium CS5.5 $89/month
Master Collection CS5.5 $129/month
CS6/CC $49.99/month (+ Behance Prosite, 20GB of storage, Typekit, DPS, Business Catalyst, etc)
http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/04/introducing-adobe-creative-suite-5-5-product-family.html
And in fact Adobe’s earlier subscription pilot programs (CS5 and before) were priced even higher than that…
Over the years, the company’s trend on subscriptions pricing has only been lower – which makes sense because the demand curve is elastic. Cut the price in half and sell three times as many units, and everybody wins.
Adobe is finally making their best-in-class tools affordable for all – the upfront cost required to get PS Extended + LR has gone from $1,298 two years ago to ~$10 today. Will they stop gouging us please?
I think the price is good.
I have recommended my clients who currently have Photoshop CC as a $20/month sub that they make the switch.
Unfortunately this is not done automatically by Adobe but needs to be progressed manually, a bit retro but there you go.
I have found the best way to make the switch is to ask the Adobe Facebook team to progress things for you.
As always, if your livelihood is involved its always worth keeping Photoshop CS6 installed in case there are problems with cancelled credit cards etc. causing the new software to stop.
Stephen
John, I wish we could move past hearing what Adobe’s price plan is or is not. What’s missing is a price commitment. That would likely satisfy those who are most concerned about the money side of the issue.
Also, I think the majority of users, given Adobe’s abysmal track record in this “Credit Cloud” debacle, demand not only a rock-solid price, but a rock-solid exit strategy as well. (Adobe: Hint, hint, hire someone who thinks logically and can express your policies clearly.)
Finally, the committed price should include rights to, let’s say, any two other major apps. That would attract those who use, for example, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere.
I am still extremely unlikely to participate in any rent-ware scheme short of a 10-year lock at $5/month, but adoption of my suggestions would certainly satisfy many others.
http://scottkelby.com/2013/adobes-letting-everyone-in-on-the-deal-but-only-for-a-few-days/
Anyone asking for a price commitment is going to be waiting for a very, very long time. There’s no way any corporate lawyer would allow that.
As for more choices, that’s not likely to happen either. AFAICT, the whole point here is to keep things as simple as possible and eliminate the costs surrounding tens of thousands of SKUs.
The days of perpetual software are pretty much dying. If you think the rest of the large software companies aren’t watching this like hawks, I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken.
>The days of perpetual software are pretty much dying. If you think the rest of the large software companies aren’t watching this like hawks, I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken.<
Then, surely, those of us who are unhappy with the subscription model should take this opportunity to let them know loud and clear.
With a million subs at last count and a reported 25,000 or so being added every week, you’re already being drowned out.
I guess we’ll see…
Rick, the battle is all but lost. There are more people like me who will go with $10.00/month but would never consider $650 + 200 (maybe more) for upgrades.
I currently use LR…so 150 + 80 every 12-18 months for upgrades. After 2 years, I’ll spend at most 10 bucks more and I get LR & Photoshop. If Adobe raises prices, I’ll dump it and go back to LR only. And if LR is sub only, I’ll switch raw converters, but right now, the economics make sense. And if I was a PS user, I’d still say that $10.00/month makes sense, though I’d be super pissed if I’d recently bought CS6 (especially if it was at full price).
“…if I was a PS user, I’d still say that $10.00/month makes sense, though I’d be super pissed if I’d recently bought CS6 (especially if it was at full price).”
The subscription bundle is a good deal for people who are new to PS, but I’ve been upgrading Photoshop (standard) for quite a while and my upgrade cost typically worked out to about $10/month. Now, with the new “Bundle”, the cost is about the same, but the software disappears when I take Adobe’s hand out of my pocket. Granted, they’re throwing in LR and a couple of doo-dads, but a software rental simply doesn’t have the value of a perpetual license.
“If Adobe raises prices, I’ll dump it and go back to LR only.”
And what will you do with all those files you created with PS CC? See Tranberry’s post below: Adobe’s answer is to use an older version of PS (which doesn’t work so well for you), or to buy some other program that will open them. I notice that there has been no mention lately of the “exit strategy” that Adobe promised months ago.
I wouldn’t particularly mind going back to CS6 if I dropped a subscription. But if this is going to be Adobe’s answer to our problem of files held hostage to a perpetual payment, they should bite the bullet and make a FIRM commitment to keep it viable (I don’t consider Adobe’s current vague stance on CS6 to be a FIRM commitment).
Today I got an email from Adobe, a survey with a chance of winning Adobe CC for one year.
And you know what? I don’t even want to win that because what is it for?
I learn and create and when the year is over and I have to decide to not extend the plan I can drop my PSDs and stuff in the next trashcan because I have no application that can handle them.
I love Photoshop but this CC-stuff was the worst decision ever made by Adobe.
That would be ill-advised to throw away your work as your PSDs will open fine in prior versions of Photoshop. http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2013/05/can-you-open-a-photoshop-cc-file-in-cs6.html
Is Bridge CC included in the Photoshop part of this offer, please?
[Yes. –J.]
What in the world are you all thinking?? I have been using and going over the CC products, uses, ins and outs, updates, speeds, etc, etc. THIS is the best deal and product in this industry anywhere. Fantastic, new updates are surreal. It has given us a new shot in the arm for capturing new accounts, speed in existing ones. I love it, and John whatever role you played is admirable. As I say ‘Do or Do not, there is no Try’
There really is some confusion about the “the intention is not to get you in at $9.99/mo., then crank up the price after a year.” part of the offer. Maybe you’d be so kind and shed some light on that. Looking at
http://www.adobe.com/store/en_us/popup/offer/ccm_photoshop_app_offer.html
we find “After the first 12 months, we will automatically renew your contract based on the current price of the offering.”
Which “current”? Today’s or in 12 month’s “current”?
The translators Adobe employs have decided on one:
http://www.adobe.com/store/de/popup/offer/ccm_photoshop_app_offer.html
Let me translate the sentence in question back to you from the German:
“After the first 12 months, we will automatically renew your contract based on the current price of the offering at that time.”
Note the difference “at that time” – “zum dann geltenden Preis” where “dann” signifies the future price…
This is about legal finesse, yes but the terms that would apply in Germany say it will be raised to regular price. There is no room for interpretation while in English there is. Blog posts with intentions are lovely but it would be great if the legalese could say the same in a verbose way.
The wording in the contract is now: “The price is valid for a full 12 months. After that, we’ll renew your contract automatically, at the then-current price of the offering, unless you cancel. The price is subject to change, but we will always notify you beforehand.”
@Karen Yes, the confirmation E-Mail had exactly that wording in German, too. The websites remain unchanged though.
Just noticed that the offer was extended through December 8th. Will it be extended again next week?
I didn’t hear about the extension! I decided to take the plunge – even if the price goes up in a year this deal for me is a no brainer.
@Karen
Note Adobe has now extended this offer for everyone until the end of the year:
“This offer is available to anyone until December 31, 2013. There are no previous product ownership requirements.”