Adobe vs Alternatives

[bwood]

I dumped Adobe when they dumped Freehand; still one of the best vector Programs I've ever used. I'd get used to using Photoshop. Xara has the capability to challenge Corel in DTP soon. Xara still is the closest to Freehand I can find and I love it. Presently I do web and use Macromedia dreamweaver, and xara as my photo web editor. That's the older Macromedia edition of Dreamweaver. As an audio editor I still use Adobe Audition, but bought out CS6. Buy out the tools you need. All of mine play very well together. I've done maps, slices, flash, and coding .. All with Xara. The only Adobe product that I miss from time to time is Indesign. Experiment with them all. Find your way. You will always be able to function in the Adobe world if need be.

[Albacore]

I can't see why you still don't use Freehand Bill, bar that it is a bit unstable in Windows 8 as I still use FH mx on the occasional drawing. Glad to see that you have picked Xara as your vector programme though. If you have Adobe Audition then you should have an a Adobe account then why not use that and download ID CS2 for free as I still believe that you can if you miss its superb PDF output.

[mwenz]

PagePlus X6 can be had by ringing Serif for about $15 right now too. I would use it before I used ID CS2.

[nsterken]

Wow, this really is an interesting thread.

To the older gents who are subscribed to the Cloud, stating that it's the industry standard, subscription is cheap: um, I know you guys paid for each upgrade before and things weren't cheap then but... you could at least skip a version or 2 if there were no significant upgrades. That option is gone.

You say the sub is cheap but you don't own anything anymore. Adobe's products are no longer for sale but for momentary lease. Piss them off somehow, no more leasing. And what about the long term? At $50 a month, you'll spend $2400 in 48 months to use all their products. $4800 over the next 8 years. Perhaps that is a deal for some. For others, that is an operating cost. But it is no longer an expense for a product but a service, like electricity. My problem with Adobe is that they removed any other options. If you truly care about your customers, ALL of them, as they claim, why piss on all the little guys? Is their money truly not as green as the big design firms?

As you mentioned, some folks like the Cloud. Great! They are happy. The ones who do not like it are not happy. And they are being excluded or cohersed to conform with no alternative from the company. It's dishonest.

Other problem: all you guys saying that it is a reasonable rate? Are you aware that the $50 a month is only for new customers? The normal rate, after the introductory 12 months is up, is $75 a month. Adobe says they cannot guarantee that rate, either. They speculate that they do not see the rate rising to more than $120 a month for full access. Now, this leads me to believe that there will be different package/tier options available later but what you got for $50 a month you may have to pay double to enjoy in months? And that is just 12 months! We know how prices are skyrocketing nowadays. If we use some simple statistics of Adobe's pricing structure, in 24 months you could be paying $200+ a month for that Cloud full suite! That's $2400 a year! And you still own nothing. If you stop paying, you are left with nothing.

So I do not understand how all these industry pros can defend and justify this without absolutely and purposefully ignoring the business implications of this. These are the types of move that destroy economies by monopolizing companies whose ridiculous policies hurt the infrastructure of markets and industries, NOT nurture them. Shame on you folks for trying to make yourselves feel better.

Worse, because Adobe is so prominent, what if this catches on? Nik Software already bundled all of their products into a collection you have to buy complete. What happens when an entire industry adopts this? No one owns any software. What about if other industries adopt this? Stop making car payments, they take back the car. It's fine now but what about when they make cars that could last for 30 years? Today's cars run great for 10 years plus when properly maintained. How much will we spend on cars when we never stop paying for them? How about your home? What happens to your pension when your still making house payments at 83? And you can't sell your house because nobody has owned a house in 30 years: the banks own them.

So you guys need to stop being condascending and wake up to the bigger picture. Us younger people are seeing the dots connect and where they lead. For some reason, the older gen cannot fathom the type of deadly matrix of a world that is evolving before them and have a million excuses as to why it's perfectly normal or it all will work out fine. My parents are a perfect example. Even as their 2nd generation corp is failing they have all kinds of justifications to tell themselves. Wake up! Fight this. It is not good no matter how nice it seems to only pay $50 a month and use the full suite. In 5 years, take a look at the graphics industry and remember this post.

Regret sucks. Wake up.