Anybody else watching ADOBE implode?

[blackwiggle]

WOW.
Who would of thought a company like ADOBE, that basically [Till Now] ruled the roost regarding photo/graphic manipulation , could totally screw a profitable business into the ground because a bean counters error?

3 days ago now, Adobe had a meeting.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/05/06/Adobe-kills-perpetual-licenses-as-creative-suite-moves-to-creative-cloud-cc

The result was a new business model [Their last, IMHO] , just read the responses to the link above.

Since this "Company Killing" decision was made.
Current [ Soon to be replaced ADOBE VP]

[MegaGeeza22]

I hate adobe... Everytime i go on to youtube it freezes up and a thing comes up on screen saying adobe has a compatibility issue with this website and that i might need to update my software, so i try to update it but i already have the latest edition... So i go back to youtube and the same thing happens! But if i click cancel or ignore youtube runs perfectly! It does it on other websites but i wont mention those lol...
Maybe its just me and i have a virus or something but as soon as i see the name adobe i get annoyed.

[Sausehuhn]

Easy guys ;)

@ Mega
„Adobe“ is the name of a company, you’re probably referring to the „Flash Player“, which is indeed an Adobe-product, but one should not conclude only because on product may be buggy, everything else has to be bad. Flash is indeed becoming more and more irrelevant for web use and there are other technologies that are better suited for this time and age, such as html5 and the likes. That’s probably what is happening to you: When YouTube detects you have a problem with flash, it uses this alternative technologies to get your videos played.

@ blackwiggle
I have to admit, I don’t quite yet know which price models Adobe offers for its Adobe Creative Cloud, but there are some very attractive bundles, especially for students. In the end nothing changes except you always have the newest and most compatible product on your computer (at least in an ideal world) which doesn’t lead to all the „Sorry, I cannot open that, I still use this and that version of CS, could you please save that to an older format?“. For all of those who use the programs on a regular basis you have to be up-to-date (in most cases) so it really could turn out to be a very pleasing experience with no extra costs at the end of the day.

Sure, for all of those who did not plan to update their software for the next three or so years, this is a punch in the face, as one basically has to pay twice or triple the price, which is an issue for quite a few people. Those should think about whether they need the whole package or if Lightroom and Photoshop Elements doesn’t get the job done, as they stay seperate programs with one-time-buy-licences.

In the end it will probably limit piracy, which seems to be a big issue for Adobe products. I imagine there are quite a few people out there using cracked versions of Adobe’s software because they just have them, not because they need them, as there a quite a few alternatives for basic users.

[dreadofmondays]

Personally, I expect piracy rates to soar because of this. They're basically milking customers just like EA. I already disliked Adobe because they split lots of core functions into separate programs and then try and sell all of those at full price, when you could get the same functionalities in less programs...
I was considering buying some Adobe software, because it /is/ good, but there's no way I'm going to do it in a subscription service. I just don't have that kind of cash.
I, and I expect lots of other people, see it as two options: Buy the software for a one-time fee, or pirate the software. Now that Adobe themselves prevent us from choosing the first option, the we have no choice but to pick the second one...
Like the commenters on that page say: I think Adobe has misjudged the amount of market share it has.

[blackwiggle]

Adobe's new business model has nothing to do with piracy of it's software, and that's a quote directly from Adobe's Vice President Winston Hendrikson 2 days ago.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/05/08/Adobe-photoshop-cc.

The old Hitler bunker speech has been done again for this Adobe business.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=67Iw9q2X9cU

I've been doing some quick but involved research on a Photoshop replacement, as for one thing I think any new updates to Photoshop will be very small and spaced out further apart than they have been historically.
And secondly I sense that with this decision of Adobe's, buying into Photoshop now is pretty much a dead end if you are more a part time hobbyist, not a professional user that can justify the now perpetual costs of running Photoshop in it's CC form, as basically most photographers need the RAW updates that have come out to match any new model camera.
If you bought CS6 now thinking you will be happy with what it offers for several years to come without any up dates, you would want to be happy with sticking with the same camera for that period as well if you shoot RAW files, as unless you buy into PS CC you wont be getting any updates for RAW processing for any new cameras down the track.
I suppose you could always buy a separate RAW processing software.

I've already downloaded and installed GIMP 2.8.4.
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html
[ TIP:If you want download it to try GIMP out, don't bother downloading the separate English 25.8mb [United Kingdom help files] as there is a known problem, they don't load into Gimp 2.8.4, Download the English 25.9mb files instead, these load in fine]
Another quick tip: when you first open the program up portions of the program will appear separately [tool box floating by itself etc], you can have them all appear as a whole by click on Windows, single window mode, then the programs UI appears just like Photoshop does.

This is a open source software that is in many respects equal to Photoshop, especially since the recent 2.8 version was released
If you visit the link below you can read a un biased comparison of GIMP 2.8 V's PS CS5 extended, feature by feature.
http://issuu.com/gimpmagazine/docs/whitepaper-gimp-vs-ps

But the best news is if you read the future planned for GIMP, it's basically being re-written from the core [quite a bit of this has already happened with the 2.8 release]
You can seen the proposed timeline and features planned here.
http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/whats-new-in-gimp-2-10#comment14258

I ended up buying "The Book of GIMP" from Amazon as a kindle download, which is a extremely thorough guide to doing anything with GIMP, and also explains what are the best plugins and scripts to get for it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-GIMP-Complete-Everything/dp/1593273835

[Sausehuhn]

If you bought CS6 now thinking you will be happy with what it offers for several years to come without any up dates, you would want to be happy with sticking with the same camera for that period as well if you shoot RAW files, as unless you buy into PS CC you wont be getting any updates for RAW processing for any new cameras down the track.

There will be RAW updates for CS6 in the future. But you’re right, it’s questionable how long this will continue. And then there is Lightroom for basic photo retouching.
I’m not trying to defeat Adobe here, but the ongoing introduction of new RAW-types is a desaster. I still don’t understand why so many companies stick to their very own formats instead of using the universal DNG-format.

[blackwiggle]

I've decided to build a experiment PC running Win7 pro 64, a 2nd gen i7 and a mid/upper range Nvidia card [CUDA scores count with some Adobe software] so Premiere runs decently
I already have 3 other PC's around the house, but all are built for a specific task.
I also have full access to the Adobe CS suite at work, and the intention their from the bean counters is to go with the CC payment plan, so I will be able to judge just how a big a difference a static 2013 version of say Photoshop CS6 compares to a constantly updated CC version of the same software.

This new one I will load with the ADOBE CS6 suite, with updates as of last week.
I will keep this PC offline permanently, and disconnected from my home network.

WHY?
Well I figure since I build PC's for other people, I should be able to show them the difference [If any], and prove basically if Adobes new CC versions are actually worth buying into, say over a 18 month period.
Run the same tasks on two equally spec'd PC's 18 months down the line, the only difference being that one had CC updates.

I think the answer will be a resounding NO, it wasn't worth the monthly payment.

You just have to look at the "Bells & Whistles" new PS feature of smart sharpening.
HELLO, this is pretty much equal to a script you could write in GIMP [or PS for that matter] that does the same thing.

You would be far better served by spending your upgrade money for any Adobe CC product by purchasing a 1 year premium tutorial package from LYNDA.com [US$375 PA]
http://www.lynda.com/
Then you would have any time you want for available tuition, with any of the available software they teach with downloadable project files, so you can follow exactly what the tutorials are teaching you.
Have a look at the range of tutorials they have, it's huge.
I recommend Deke McClelland's tutorials, this guy really knows his stuff and he is easy to understand.
I have a complete set of his Photoshop CS3 tutorials, which are still relevant today

[Darkdrium777]

I still don’t understand why so many companies stick to their very own formats instead of using the universal DNG-format.Relevant xkcd (http://xkcd.com/927/)

As far as Adobe goes, the two monopolies they used to have are/were filled with terrible products with huge security flaws and performance issues. PDF and flash from them are nowadays horrible.

Photoshop, eh, it's always been pirated. That won't change for anyone who used to do that. If the cloud pricing year to year is the same as the upgrade path, well I can see some businesses getting into that no problem due to offsite storage being a nice plus. The issue is those not willing to upgrade every year, then they probably lose money there I would think. There is of course the issue of providing incentive for those upgrades of course, but I am assuming they would be worth it.

I personally use GIMP though, have been for a long while. FOSS is quite nice.

[AquaAura]

I don't understand what the hell you're all talking about (well I am dumb so...) but I do know that Adobe Flash Player is horrible, crashes all the time and that shockwave thing is sooo annoying. With little dead jigsaw faces and that yellow thing on the top of my browser... "Adobe Shockwave has crashed". :bomb:bomb:bomb:bomb:bomb

[blackwiggle]

ADOBE is changing it's business model for ALL CS products.
Not just Photoshop.

That's why the backlash has been so big, and will get bigger, once those that use ADOBE software get the so recent news and twig on to the consequences of the changes I can only see things escalating

PS
http://xkcd.com/927/
Nice one Dark :clap

Abobe stock dropped 3.8% in one day
Give it a couple of days and see what Adobe stock is worth.

[Mu5]

I doubt Adobe will be going anywhere :)

http://www.zeldman.com/2013/05/08/adobe-love/

[blackwiggle]

Sorry.
Bad link for some reason, I couldn't understand what you point was.[404 then some duff site]
Finally got to the link.

Edge Reflow is worth $588 a year? ...or how ADOBE prefers to market it as $49 per month.
I KNOW other software will get updates as well, but in all honesty, this is BS
Watch the hoard run from ADOBE.

[Darkdrium777]

http://www.zeldman.com/2013/05/08/adobe-love/Just because the company and its employees are excited about the products they are developing doesn't mean those products will be massively successful, nor great in the first place. That guy there doesn't really say why it's so great, only that it's great, they think it's great and I think it's great, so it's great. Yay!