Adobe Systems announced an update to their Adobe Creative Suite 5 software which will be available as a monthly pay as you go subscription. This is a bold move by Adobe to go SasS (Software as a Service).
The Creative Suite 5-5 will be available from next month with more incremental updates between fully new versions of its main products. The subscription editions will let customers try and use Adobe products online without having to spend hundreds or thousands of $ or £ to buy the software suites. This also applies to Photoshop, which sits on the low end of the subscription model at an affordable $49 per month or $35 with a one-year subscription.
“This launch marks a major change to Adobe’s product release strategy for Creative Suite,” the San Jose company said in a statement. “Adobe now plans to have milestone Creative Suite product introductions at 24-month intervals and — starting with Creative Suite 5.5 — significant mid-cycle releases designed to keep the worldwide creative community ahead of the latest advances in content authoring.”
This model will help photographers, specially those who are starting out, with their cash flow. Those who don’t use Photoshop regularly and need it every now and then, can subscribe for a month only, use the software and then stop the subscription. Or you have the option to try for a month the different software Adobe has to offer i.e InDesign, Illustrator, etc. This is great for those creatives who get projects which require different software to complete it.
What I like about online software is that the risk of piracy is very low or non-existent, which in turn is good for all law abiding citizens as it reduces crime in general. You don’t have to pay for upgrades in most cases and can enjoy the latest software at all times, no need to be restricted to a particular computer or laptop. You can work pretty much from anywhere you like as long as you have internet access.
Adobe will offer two subscription plans: annual and a month-to-month plan with higher prices with no short or long term commitment by the subscriber. You will still have to pay for discontinuous periods. Every 30 days the software will talk to the Adobe servers to check the payment has been made and your credit card is valid.
Unfortunately, the pricing structure is a bit confusing to say the least if you want to do a comparative cost analysis. For example, if you want to buy CS Design Standard and plan to upgrade every two years, then it actually makes sense to subscribe.
I know a lot of photographers are not a big fan of software rental, or rental of anything really. Personally I would be happy to pay a monthly fee to any software company and this sure is a bold move and an experiment on the part of Adobe to take the lead in this software model. Only time will tell whether most will give a thumbs up or a down. If you’d like to add a comment or vent your fury, please do so below.
Oz
Image credit: Adobe Systems