It doesn't for any previous package. But if you want to grab an upgrade, say just a one off upgrade from CS4 to CC1. Then suddenly you have to jump subscription. I honestly can't believe you're arguing for this instead of a compromise which is what we have now, a choice.
I'm not arguing for it, that is a mistake you seem to have made. I didn't think there was a problem with how they had it before, but at the same time I understand and accept that Adobe is a company, and they need to ensure their survival after the last few versions of their products didn't bring much to the table. I don't think that CC is necessarily a bad thing either. I'm fairly neutral because as someone who will honestly not upgrade, this move doesn't affect me.
I'm also anti-misinformation. You're allowed to be upset at something, but I feel you need to be informed and rational about it. You have been neither, and I'm sorry to say that. You're letting raw emotion get in the way, so far as to play the victim card like we're attacking you. We're not attacking you- or at least I'm not. I've mostly been musing about how frustrating these experiences are, when one person sets off an outrage through a community that for many reasons should not happen. Often it's as a result of people who don't or didn't do enough to think for themselves. In this instance, you had a lot of misinformation and your only source was a third party news article that mirrored the same mindset. It's difficult to accept that you didn't look into it after we started pointing out the flaws in the logic you were using to illustrate why CC is a bad thing.
Cheaper packages better suited for me? That's an assumption on your part.
Wait what? Why is this an assumption? You're complaining about pricing and policy and I'm suggesting you find something that works for you better than the standard package... why is that an assumption? It's a suggestion.
You're forgetting these are deals that are on now. They wont be about next year.
Then if you're going to bite the bullet and go for it, you'd better get on it.
Not everyone can afford the expendature of a yearly upgrade. Which is my point. You assume that people who buy adobe software have flexibility to afford an annual upgrade. Some don't. And that's when this annual thing becomes expensive. Because suddenly you aren't paying a one off, you're paying constantly.
There's a HUGE difference between having to afford a $2,500 purchase all at once and having to pay a $50/mo subscription fee. You seem to be really confused about this. As someone who also has to pay bills every month I can assure you I would easily be able to afford $50/mo rather than $2,500 at any given time, and that's going to be true for any one. Also, the expenditure for a yearly upgrade is significantly reduced through the CC program, so not only do you not need to save up $2,500 for your next big purchase, but you also don't even have to pay $2,500 for the equivalent over a set period of time. I realize that $50/mo would eventually end up being $2,500 or more, but by the time it does,
you're already two versions ahead of where you started.
I feel like a good example of this working is Netflix. Feel free to point out if I'm wrong, and I realize that the two contents aren't consumed in the same manner, but I happily pay $8/mo for Netflix Instant and get access to their library, much in the same way I would get access to Adobe's library of software. I don't own any of these movies but I can still watch them any time I want. Sure, the lineup on Netflix is constantly changing, but I'm okay with that because there's new content coming in for me to consume after I'm done with the old content. I've had Netflix since 2010. In 3 years, I've given them just under $300 for this service. It's proven to be a ton more convenient, reliable, and cost effective for me than if I were to go out and purchase the blu-rays and DVDs of everything I have watched in the last 3 years. Now, if you asked me to go out and drop $300 or more on blu-rays and DVDs at any given moment I would laugh at you and continue what I was doing. I don't have $300 lying around to drop on that stuff, the same way I don't have $2,500 to drop on a Master Collection or whatever other package Adobe is trying to push. However, $8/mo for unlimited access to an entire library of content, even content I will probably never watch sounds good to me. It's a smaller amount spread over a large period of time, so the impact becomes significantly softer.
Often times, large up front costs prevent me from buying things anyway, which I think is the reason why a lot of people don't upgrade. It IS a big fucking deal to drop over a grand on anything, but paying for CC ISN'T dropping a grand at all and you need to remember that.
Production Premium package, which was significantly less. You also need to remember, then the choice was to upgrade partly what you needed.
Check this, £900:
Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium:
Adobe After Effects CS6
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended
Adobe Audition CS6
Adobe SpeedGrade CS6
Adobe Prelude CS6
Adobe Illustrator CS6
Adobe Encore CS5
Adobe Flash Professional CS6
Adobe Media Encoder CS6
Adobe Bridge CS6
Now you may go, ah yes, but £600 a year is cheaper. but say I dont need an upgrade. With CC i have to pay another £600 regardless if i need it or not.
Okay you've got some weird math going on here. Let's take a step back and look at this. The CS6 Production Premium retails for
$1,899.00. Now, you're saying that you got this cheaper because it was an upgrade? Let's take a look at that. To get the upgrade price you need to have a previous version of CS Production Premium, let's assume you have CS5.5 Production premium, so the actual cost to upgrade is only $375.00. That's an amazing price, right? Much better than CC. Except to get the upgrade price you have to legally own that previous version, which means you had to have purchased it at some point for... $1,899.00. You can't upgrade parts of the bundle, Adobe specifically states it doesn't work like that. So to get the software and upgrade it your total cost is a whopping $2274.00. So let's make sure that's clear, because if you're going to make sure we're remembering that the price is an upgrade price, you need to take in to account the cost of the version you bought previously. With CC, you pay $50 and immediately get access to the products you want. The next year when the next releases come out, you'll have paid $600 assuming you purchased your license on the day the software comes out. The price differences between USD and the British Pound are another issue entirely, so I haven't taken that into account because they have nothing to do with CC and everything to do with Adobe's already shitty policy regarding pricing over seas.
That said, again I agree that those who want to keep a single version of the software are getting shafted, but from my earlier statements and the more I think about it, perhaps these people should rethink that position. If it's a big deal to them to spend so much money on software all at once, they should step back and look at exactly what this pricing structure would be like. Like I said it's less of an impact on your wallet and allows you to financially plan things out much better. As a hobbyist I would much rather prefer to spend $50/mo for 5 months and decide it's not for me than to drop $1,000+ and decide I don't want them any more. Do you NEED every new feature? Maybe not, but then you're still welcome not to purchase CC at all. I know companies that still use Photoshop 7, and that's okay because it works for them. CC wouldn't even cross their mind. As an animator do you feel you have the tools you need to get your job done right now? If yes, then why the fuss over CC? Why does it affect you? If no, then maybe you should re-examine what software you're using and look for a better alternative.
Yeah, but not everyone does what you do. So because it suits your field doesn't mean it suits mine. It would be great to simply depend on a single company for all my programs, but the games industry/animation industry isn't like that. You know that...
That was my point. You're practically shouting doomsday for Adobe while failing to look beyond your bubble. That's why I called your title sensationalist, because quite frankly it is.
you can't brush those customers off like this. Freelancers hold a massive array of the creative market, although they don't spend the same amount as companies do the acknowledgement should still be there, which is why the offer of both options should be the right way to go, not a mandatory monthly payment. The grand scale of things you're referring to prices now, and bargains they have now, you need to think 5 years down the line. So say CC1 has a perfect balance in flash64, and PS. A great update,and I go for it. Then CC2 comes out, it's not so great, and I dont need the upgrade, in fact lets say CC3 is also a non requirement. Then I've paid £600 a year for my adobe photoshop and flash, which im happy with and could last me another three years. But i have to keep paying, in fact 3 times over what I would pay if I just bought it once.
In a perfect world, both would be the best. That is true. As for the pricing, not quite. If you bought it once at regular pricing you'd have to be 4 years on CC to spend almost the same amount. 4 years is a long time to be sure you wont need to upgrade. Hell, Flash CS4 came out around 4 or 5 years ago and since then they've added the ability to publish iPhone apps, a new text engine, publishing as HTML5, and working with Sprite Sheets. These are very important updates that a LOT of developers need to have. It's a stretch to say you absolutely wont need to update in 4 years let alone next release, but again I do agree that for those that want to it would be nice if they could do a traditional license. It's just not the end of the world if they can't.
Ehhh... Do you not remember what happened when we hit 20% vat, everyones phone bill went up. Part of the membership agreement you sign. So the contract for a specified amount is never cemented. Plus, if they put it in the agreement that it can fluctuate, then you still have no choice. And even if it did fluctuate higher, and say they bring out a new package and it goes up $10. But you cant afford that, then what? You dont want the new package, but hey, you may have to pay for it.
VAT has nothing to do with a service agreement or contract. I realize we don't live in the same country so the laws could differ, however VAT is outside of what a contract would cover, because it's outside of the company's control. It wouldn't be in Adobe's control if your government decided to increase VAT, in which case you should be mad at VAT, not Adobe. I don't know if Adobe will increase the price or what will happen if they do, and neither do you. They don't have an official policy as far as I can tell, so until they do your argument doesn't really work and seems overly pessimistic.
