No more Creative Suite - only Creative Cloud.

[Peru]

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/06/adobe- ... ped-boxes/

[Bob]

^*%*$*^*&^%!

From my perspective as a retired senior on a fixed income, that really sucks! After the introductory price runs out, that's going to double my costs. I have no need for everything in the Creative Suite, I have Production Premium CS6 which has everything I need. And, with no perpetual license, when it gets to the point that I no longer want (or won't be able to pay) the subscription, it will stop working and I'll have to revert back to the last boxed version I have.

[_Paz_]

Can't write what I'd like to say.

I never needed all the programs in the Creative Suite so I stuck with upgrading individual programs. Next Adobe will do away with them, no doubt.

[momoffduty]

Wow! Glad I upgraded my PrPro & AE to CS6 in December. I have PS CS5. Maybe it is time to hang up the editing.

[sidd finch]

Looks like I will just stick with CS5. I have always felt that the CS Cloud was a slow bleed. No thank you.

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

[Bobby]

Well, guys and gals, it's all changing and the pace is accelerating.

I am sitting on my (only, now) home PC, but just because I turned it on to bring up Quicken and write some checks. Otherwise my PC now stays off for days at a time.

Granted that if I was actively doing video editing I would of course be on the PC more, but I still haven't gotten that back on track yet.

I have been thinking about a new PC lately. Last time I bought a PC was (I can't believe it) five years ago. At that point, I had a "daily" PC, and a quad core I got for video editing. A few years ago the daily PC went belly-up and I consolidated all on the video PC. I intended to get a new video PC but dragged my heels. Now I am not sure sure I am ever going to buy one.

I would be interested in the division of computation between the "cloud" and the local PC with the new Adobe cloud software. If the shift occurs as I think, there will be more and more of the actual computation done in the cloud and the PC will be relegated to just a dumb display. (I worked on dumb displays (3270) at IBM for years.) You will end up uploading your video into the cloud (or maybe the camera will automatically do it via wi-fi) and then what you do/see on your screen becomes just the front end for some computational engine distributed in the cloud.

With that division of labor, you could use any device to do your video editing, even a tablet. I am sure that would appeal to Adobe - the same software (or interface in this case) for PCs, MACs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, Linux, etc. etc.

Next is the implant in your brain. Can't wait!

[_Paz_]

Another article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323826804578466830054806110.html

$600 per year is too rich for me. I guess Adobe will be losing me as a customer.

Now I find myself wondering if there will be another Premiere Elements?

[Dave McElderry]

Looks like you've got to be a subscriber to view, Paz. I wonder the same thing about Premiere Elements. I'm not thrilled with any of this. If Adobe makes this work you can bet that other companies will be following suit.

[momoffduty]

Maybe box copies CS 6 programs will go up in value for people who want to own? I may be sitting on a very good investment.

[_Paz_]

>>Looks like you have to be a subscriber...

I'm not a subscriber. I don't know why I could see the article, but here it is:

By STEVEN D. JONES

Adobe Systems Inc., ADBE -1.11% the maker of Photoshop, Illustrator and other design tools, is getting out of the packaged-software business and will sell its biggest products only as online services.

The decision announced Monday by one of the largest software publishers underscores how the industry is adjusting to changing consumer tastes. People are buying fewer boxes of software—just as they aren't buying as many CDs, movies and books in stores—and turning to Internet-based cloud services.

Adobe, which began selling its software in stores in 1987, will no longer offer new versions of its creative software at retailers such as Staples or allow people to download digital copies to their computers.

The move is a risk for a company that makes most of its $4.1 billion in annual revenue from licensed and packaged software. Adobe will have to convince its customers—mainly creative professionals such as illustrators, photographers and publishers—to use the software through a subscription-based service called Adobe Creative Cloud that it launched a year ago. The company maintains the software on its servers and continuously updates it.

Adobe doesn't plan future packaged versions beyond Creative Suite 6.0, its current set of design software, although it will continue selling and supporting that product.

Enlarge Image
image
image
Bloomberg News

Shantanu Narayen, Adobe Systems CEO, shown last year.

Customer benefits include possible savings on internal labor costs, while Adobe will enjoy a smoother flow of revenue rather than big swings when new products hit the market.

Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's chief executive, said creative professionals prefer features of the online service, including the fact that it is constantly updated with new features. The company's subscription pricing also "scales the offering" from individual freelancers to the biggest enterprises.

"We wanted to align the company with the future of the creative process," Mr. Narayen said.

Other companies that have added online options beyond shrink-wrapped programs include Microsoft Corp., MSFT +0.78% with offerings such as its free Outlook.com email service. Design and engineering-software maker Autodesk Inc. ADSK +0.20% launched a cloud service two years ago and now earns nearly 40% of revenue from subscriptions rather than sales of packaged products.

But Adobe's decision to focus primarily on the cloud stands out. Both Microsoft and Autodesk continue to sell packaged products and digital downloads of their biggest products.

Ending the annual update cycle required for a packaged software business in favor of online delivery frees Adobe engineers "to put innovation in our members' hands at a much faster pace," said David Wadhwani, Adobe's general manager for digital media.It also frees the company of the packaging and distribution expense to focus on subscribers, which now total more than 500,000 and are growing at about 12,000 a week. The company expects to have four million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2015.

Adobe's embrace of subscription cloud services is the latest move in a two-year transformation from distributing desktop software and content reliant on its Flash streaming media to one focused on portable software that runs online rather than inside a device.

In the process, the San Jose, Calif., company ended development of mobile Flash, trimmed about 750 jobs and adopted a collection of portable media technologies backed by Apple Inc. AAPL +2.38% and others.

As part of the cloud strategy, Adobe is adding the letters CC to popular products such as Photoshop CC, to make clear they are integral to the Creative Cloud. It also plans to make several improvements to store, synchronize and share content inside its cloud along with discount pricing to appeal to users of its packaged software and newcomers as well.

Adobe is offering existing Creative Suite customers discounts of about 40% on the first year of service. After that an annual contract costs $50 a month for individuals. Corporate subscriptions include cloud storage and administrative tools and cost $70 a month per user. Off the shelf, the standard design edition of Creative Suite 6.0 retails for $1,299.

Adobe's Acrobat document reading software will still be available outside the Creative Cloud as an individual licensed product. Subscriptions to single applications, such as Photoshop, are available for $20 a month.

At Vertigo Software Inc. in Point Richmond, Calif., five of the 13 staff designers have switched to Creative Cloud and the rest will soon follow, said Tony Sokolowski, vice president of design. Having all Adobe tools at everyone's fingertips is a plus, he said, although the storage, sharing and editing features of the cloud service need improvement.

He estimates that his company over time will pay more for software through the subscription service than buying packaged programs. "The regular monthly cost is easier for budgeting, even if it will cost us more in the long term," he said.

An Adobe spokesman said cloud subscribers are receiving additional value such as storage and collaboration not available with the packaged products.

For suppliers, one challenge of shifting to subscriptions is that revenue that once arrived in a lump sum is booked gradually, while deferred revenue is added to their balance sheets. So rising demand for online subscriptions can translate into falling earnings in the early stage of the transition.

Adobe said that net profit fell 65% in its fiscal first quarter ending in February one year after launching Creative Cloud in April 2012, as the company invested in creating and marketing the cloud.

During the period, Adobe added 153,000 Creative Cloud subscribers, which boosted annual recurring revenue by $80 million to $233 million.

But because most of those sales will be booked in future quarters, cash revenue in the first quarter actually declined 3.5% to slightly more than $1 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Adobe to earn net profit of $311 million on revenue of $4.1 billion in fiscal 2013 ending in November. That compares with net profit of $832 million last year on nearly the same revenue, after adjusting for discontinued operations. Analysts expect both revenue and net profit to reaccelerate in 2014 and beyond.

Brad Zelnick, an analyst at Macquarie, estimates that recurring subscription revenue could swell to $697 million by the end of the year.

"The important point is the cost of renewing that subscriber is less than the cost of acquiring the customer in the first place," Mr. Zelnick said. "You see efficiency from the direct relationship with the customer compared to the discrete software sale in the old business model."

Beyond accounting changes, companies that grew up under the industry's original model have to learn new skills and practices associated with service companies rather than just product companies.

"It is no longer about the number of units sold, but the number of subscription customers and the quality of that relationship," said Brian Bell, chief marketing officer for Zuora Inc., which helps companies establish subscription businesses. "That's a big shift for an enterprise software company."

Adobe announced the move to focus on cloud services at its annual user conference in Los Angeles. On Monday, its shares dropped 1.1% to $46.49. Adobe's stock is up 41% since it launched Creative Cloud in April 2012.

Write to Steven D. Jones at steve-d.jones@dowjones.com

[Bob]

I would be interested in the division of computation between the "cloud" and the local PC with the new Adobe cloud software.

It's not "in the cloud" computing, all the computing is done locally on your computer just like it always has. The Cloud is the distribution mechanism. Applications are installed via the Adobe Application manager. Once installed, you can be disconnected from the internet and still use the software, but you will need to connect to the Internet once every 30 days for the software to verify the subscription is still active.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

A golden opportunity for a company to take up the customers that Adobe are about to lose in droves!!

[George Tyndall]

^*%*$*^*&^%!

From my perspective as a retired senior on a fixed income, that really sucks! After the introductory price runs out, that's going to double my costs. I have no need for everything in the Creative Suite, I have Production Premium CS6 which has everything I need. And, with no perpetual license, when it gets to the point that I no longer want (or won't be able to pay) the subscription, it will stop working and I'll have to revert back to the last boxed version I have.

Bob, the following is a post by Angry Man on the link supplied by the OP above.

"Well, I gave Adobe $600/year for 20 years and made some creative stuff over that time. I paid them over $12,000. I want to retire. Oh look. If I don't KEEP PAYING ADOBE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, I can't access any of the work I did all those years."

What about changing careers? What happens when you don't need to upgrade anymore but you still want to access to any of the work you did in the past?

Renting software with no option for a perpetual license should be illegal. It is certainly IMMORAL. These people DO NOT CARE about their customers. They are predators. Psychopaths. There's no reason they can't offer both options.

I hope their Creative Cloud fails. I'd rather see this business model fail completely so other companies don't follow. Can you imagine if every piece of software was rental only? If you don't pay one month it stops working. Adobe are a bunch of SLUM LORDS now. ROBBER BARRENS.

Us creative people are being fleeced by CORPORATE GREED! It may seem like an attractive deal now. But how do you get out once you've created something?

I wish all the people signing up for "Creative Cloud" would just think into the future a bit and what this really means. Because ANYTHING YOU CREATE IS NOW BEING HELD HOSTAGE AND ADOBE HAS THE KEYS!!!

The Creative Cloud is just VAPOR. The moment you stop paying it disappears!!!

Is it correct that, if one has only older boxed versions of software, then one won't be able to access creations that have been made by newer versions if one cannot to pay monthly?

[Bob]

Is it correct that, if one has only older boxed versions of software, then one won't be able to access creations that have been made by newer versions if one cannot to pay monthly?

Yes, and No. It depends on what you mean by access. If you mean be able to open the original creation's project and re-edit or tweak, the answer is probably yes, it's true.

For applications like Premiere Pro that have a project file, the project file format may change between versions. If the project file format has changed, you won't be able to open the project in an earlier version. If the file format has not changed between versions, it may be possible to be opened, but features you use that exist only in the newer version won't be recognized. However, once you've finished a project, you typically export it to a standard video format. You will always be able to access that. And, many people won't even retain the project file.

For applications like Photoshop where the project takes the form of a PDF or TIFF file, it's very likely you will be able to open it. If you use layer types not implemented in the older version, the older version won't know what to do with them. If you enabled maximum compatibility, there will be a flattened image layer embedded in the file which some programs can access and extract. But, the best thing to do is to flatten the final image and save it as any standard image format. You can keep the original layered file, but recognize that it will have a limited useful life span.

The lesson here is don't rely on the project files to last forever. Save out the finished project in a standard format and you will always have access to the fruits of your labor.