Tim Downs: Adobe Creative Cloud Review, War on You

aNewDomain.net –Adobe started this war but designers like our NYT best-selling author and illustrator Tim Downs will end it.  If it’s not too late. Adobe drew its battle lines first, Tim says, after last week’s release of its Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC and other print and digital design tools. That’s because Adobe’s new Creative Cloud software subscription service will change how designers and corporations buy and use Adobe’s products (um, services) forever more.

Read on for Tim’s Creative Cloud review …

Cue the ravens if you got the “forever more” reference. Adobe’s Creative Cloud is just the first salvo in the new licensing war propelling designers toward an Orwellian future run by evil, evil software overlords. And the news gets worse. Here’s my Creative Cloud review.

Let’s start with this. In Creative Cloud, designers no longer are able to buy Adobe software with a license that will last in perpetuity. Never again will we be able to plunk down our — yikes — $1,500 and walk away with software we own. Software that leaves us free to thumb our noses at new releases for years or as long as we want to, or until Apple yet again upgrades its operating system software to render our applications unusable. Whatever comes first.

This is all such a big deal because Adobe Creative Cloud is a subscription-0nly service. This is the whole pivotal point for this Creative Cloud review. It’s for digital licensing of Adobe’s popular design applications, including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and other great tools that have become the gold standard in the many realms of digital and print design. Will anyone go for this? Here’s a graph I created based on data from a CNET study.

Image credit: Tim Downs for aNewDomain.net 

The subscription requires members to sign up for annual $49.99 or monthly $29.99 usage plans that entitle the designer to download the suite of software to his or her computer and use any or all of the tools. You can license individual applications a la carte, too.

Of course, there’s a higher price point for team licensing for corporate use, and there are discounted plans for teachers and students. Each subscription model comes with a small amount of online storage for sharing and posting documents —  but that’s where Adobe’s so-called cloud computing concept ends.

The system downloads the applications to your computer — you max out at two installations on two devices, and not simultaneous installations. After that, Adobe checks membership licensing periodically with an online check. If it turns out you cancelled your subscription, Adobe will disable the software on your computers until you reinstate membership.

And you no longer have access to your files unless you had religiously saved them back to earlier versions of the software, a tedious and often damaging process.

Few hobbyists ever bought the full Creative Suite. They were more likely to struggle along with Photoshop effects or possibly purchased a single copy of Dreamweaver, Illustrator or InDesign over the years. Weekend photographers, newsletter designers and people who dabble with web design for personal use are the kinds of hobbyists I mean. Some of these folks will dig deep to buy a version of one of these packages or, more likely, will be using the student version they bought in college years ago.

Pros: Crickets. Zip.

Cons: You won’t use it enough to  justify the monthly payment.

Freelance Designer

A freelance designer already regularly utilizes some or most of the main design applications — InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. But he or she will get the new version of Creative Suite only when absolutely necessary. It’s too pricey. Shelling out $1,500 every 12 to 16 months to keep up with Adobe’s aggressive upgrade cycle just doesn’t fit into the realistic economics of the full or part-time freelancer. You’ve got to pay the rent first.

Pros: Well, the CC quiver of arrows is pretty full, allowing designers to explore software they couldn’t afford before. That means access to all new features as soon as they are available. Also, there will be no more worrying about Adobe eventually finding out about their illegal pirating of the software for the past  five years because they couldn’t afford the price tags. Wink.

Cons: When forced to choose between food and CC, most designers will choose food, or at least espresso. So, in a tight period they’ll be forced to cancel the Adobe Creative Cloud membership. That will render all their work  effectively useless and non-editable, unless they backed it up to work with previous versions, as I described above. Plus, every freelance designer is used to her clients being at least one or one and a half versions of Creative Suite behind them. So the fear of investing money into CC when their clients won’t be able to open documents is bound to be mortifying.

The Design Studio, Ad Agency and High-end Corporate Designers

But alas, the Cons: YIKES. Cost. Workgroup membership is $69.99 per seat. Using the example of a medium-sized design firm with 30 workstations equals more than $25K a year to rent design software. Adobe will purportedly make updates available as fast they come out, which is an IT nightmare, since each update will need to be tested to make sure they are compatible with non-Adobe font management, CSS or other software on each designer’s machine before implementation.

Once we’re in the bucket, what are the odds we’re going to able to jump out? And once  it’s got our fifty-dollar bill each month, what’s to keep Adobe from raising it to $75 next year or more? Think about it. It amounts to more than money. It’s about trust.

There is no argument their print publishing applications like InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop are still the best products in the market and will likely keep Adobe as the one horse in a one-horse race.  Sorry QuarkXpress and Freehand — you had your shot in the 1990s.On the other hand, the web development landscape is filled with viable options, Dreamweaver’s dominance is waning — especially over the past few years — and thanks to Apple, Flash was gone almost overnight. Apple mobile devices also have created opportunities for a ton of other HTML editors and animation packages to flourish.

The Road Ahead

Ever since the release of Creative Suite 5.5, Adobe has made great efforts to stretch from being the leader in print and digital design software to being the leader in tablet and digital publication publishing with their Digital Publishing Suite and new functionality for InDesign to aid in digital publication building.Worth noting: In a surprise move last month,  Adobe announced its new foray into the data collection and analytics realm dominated by Google. It’s a natural pairing considering its dive into digital publications and marketing. And it’s a clear deviation from the business of software publication that put them on the map. Strange. Then again, look what is possible — my work, unimaginable to create a desktop just a decade ago.

Last Words

Most of us have seen the Adolf Hitler Creative Cloud parody by YouTube’s Evil Edison. It is fairly offensive and profane, but this particular one does accurately express the sentiment the design community is feeling over the move Adobe is forcing upon generations of designers — to go from licensed products they pay dearly to own to rented software that is ridiculously expensive. I hope you’ll take this Creative Cloud review into deep consideration before spending a dime.

And though yes, we will yell and scream and hate Adobe for this, the reality is this: Until someone builds competing products we should and will actually use, eventually we’ll all line up and pay our 50 bucks every month for the rest of our careers. So Adobe has started the war? Is it already over? You tell me. For aNewDomain.net, I’m Tim Downs.

Based in San Diego, Tim Downs is a technologist, reviewer, commentator, and senior art designer at aNewDomain.net. He’s also the NYT best-selling author and illustrator of the New York Times best-selling How Computers Work and other award-winning and NYT best-selling books.  He is a lifelong curiosity monger, a geek, an explainer, a top tier and award-winning graphics artist and, to put it mildly, a pop culture genius. Email him at Tim@aNewDomain.net.