Adobe Goes Subscription Only – Pros and Cons

Adobe is a software company that has been the industry leader in pro-design software for as long as I can remember. I’m sure most of you have heard of Photoshop right? Photoshop is Adobe’s award winning professional photo editing software. Adobe is much more than just Photoshop however. They offer complete software packages for creating just about anything when it comes to digital media. That’s really not an exaggeration either. If you are a creator of digital content then chances are you will be using some of Adobe’s software.

I have been a graphic designer for over ten years. I remember back when I was in school the first thing my professor did was tell me to go and buy a set of books. These books were called, Adobe Classroom In A Book.  Basically each book had a disc in the back of it that you could insert into your computer and go through step by step lessons working with that particular software. The reason I’m sharing that is to show you just how immersed Adobe and it’s software is in the graphic design, art and digital content creation world. Go to any job seeking website and do a search for jobs as a designer, website designer, video creator, audio creator. No matter what I can guarantee you that you will see on each one that having experience and skills in Adobe software is a necessary skill set that these types of businesses are all looking for in potential employees.

Ever since it’s start Adobe has kept it’s software on the cutting edge of technology. They have released updates and newer versions at a fairly rapid pace.

You could buy whole packages or sets of their software or just choose which specific individual application you needed. The packaged sets had the CS in front of them and came in a few different bundles. The CS stands for “Creative Suite”.

These Creative Suites are a great way to target your needs specifically for what it is you do or the type of content that you will be creating with the software. For example there is a CS package called Design, and another called Web. Adobe also bundled them both together and calls it the Master Collection.

So with the release of the latest Adobe CS Suite. Adobe has created something very new and very cutting edge. They call it Adobe Creative Cloud.

The Adobe Creative Cloud is pretty much exactly what you would probably think it is. It’s Adobe in the cloud or Adobe over the internet if you’re unfamiliar with what being in the cloud really means.

Adobe Creative Cloud basically allowed it’s users to download full applications to their computers and have full access to the CS Master Collection. To spice up the idea of the Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe even created an all new website creating software called, Adobe Muse that can only be used by those that subscribed to the Adobe Creative Cloud service.

This was a great move by Adobe in my opinion. You could choose to be an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber or if you’d like to buy the software separately as a physical disc you still could. You could also still purchase physical disc for the CS packages as well.

Recent news from Adobe and other sources is that with the next release of it’s CS packages, (CS version 7) That they will become an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription only software company.

Let me tell you all that I work both as a freelance graphic designer from my home as well as for a large advertising company. As I stated earlier in this article I have spent over ten years in the industry and I absolutely love what I do. With that being said; I have done a ton of thinking about this new move by Adobe. Here are some of my thoughts about the new subscription only move by Adobe.

Adobe Subscription Only Pros:

It’s In The Cloud:

The cloud is where it’s at. Everything is going to the cloud. This means that your work is wherever you are all the time. Tons of creators are always looking for inspiration and they do this by being active. With Adobe Creative Cloud you’re never far from getting started on whatever inspires you.

I Don’t Have That Application:

Have you ever been working on a project and thought you had all the right software to get the job done only to find out that you needed another software title?  Maybe you only have Photoshop but you need Illustrator too. These software titles are not cheap by anyone’s standards. Wouldn’t it be great to pay one fee for access to the entire vault of software that is ready for you whenever you need it?

It’s Not Thousands Of Dollars:

Unless you’re working for an actual business then it probably gets rather pricey to keep up with all the latest editions of software being released. Each time a new CS comes out it’s usually at least $500 for the upgrade and even more than that if you are a first time buyer. I don’t know about you, but that gets hard to keep with and burns a quick hole in most people’s pockets.

A Community Of Creativity:

Adobe Creative Cloud brings creative professionals together the same Facebook brings friends together through social media. This can be very beneficial to those that are looking for creative inspiration or simply looking to meet people who share their passion for creating content.

Fluent Workflows Like A Team:

As a graphic designer there have been so many times where I will be working on a project and then someone else ends up working on it too. Jobs get passed around all the time when you’re on a design team at your work. Often times this can cause headaches. Maybe the person before you used a font that you don’t have on your system and it throws the entire design out of whack. Maybe you are missing an image or link that causes problems when you go to produce your project. These are all time consuming things that slow down production. With Adobe Creative Cloud everyone is on the same page with their content. It’s all up to date, it’s all synced and seamless.

Adobe Subscription Only Cons:

ARRRRGH:

Yes that was my attempt at making a pirate noise. Let me say this before I go any further. I hate pirating of any sort. It is stealing and it is against the law. With that being said I know that many, many, people do it. I personally don’t think this is a con; but I know that a lot of the people that are up in arms about the new subscription only service are really just mad because they won’t be able to pirate or steal this software for themselves. It’s a known fact that pro-design software is some of the most commonly ripped off and stolen software across the internet.

It’s In The Cloud:

Just as I said this was a definite Pro. I believe it could possibly be a Con as well. Why do I think this? Well I believe that there could still be a very small number of people out there in the world that don’t have internet access even still. I could be wrong, but I did work part time at Office Depot in the technology department for over a year recently and I was shocked at how many people came in wanting Adobe software but telling me that they did not have internet at home.

Final Thoughts:

I personally think that this move is the future of all things to come, therefore whether we like it or not; it’s happening. Everything is going digital and everything is going to the cloud. Subscriptions are going to be the new norm for just about everything. I think it’s exciting and that it will help all users stay up to date with the latest technology. The fact that Adobe will be only subscription and only online will allow them to spend more time on product development and cloud integration than on marketing and packaging their different software bundles. There will just be one bundle which will be to have full access of all they have to offer. Sign me up!