I may be one of few to say this but I don't find this to be unreasonable. In fact, I like it better.
Years ago when I started a web interactive firm with 8 people on staff. It cost me over $16,000 to properly and legally license software for my company( not just Adobe but a fair amount of it). At that time, you only had the option of paying a large upfront sum for design software or pirating it. I would have KILLED for the ability to translate the into a monthly cost. To me its a fallacy to talk about business costs in yearly terms because it almost always translates to a monthly issue. You can argue semantics but Id rather spend more money over a year then less all at once: because in most cases, that helps you make payroll and pay your bills.
Currently, I pay $99/mo for the Creative Suite Master Collection. In 2008, that cost over $1500 up-front. I think for all its issues, Adobe makes products that enable me to do my job and they are tools that I generally have no issue with and I pretty much start my day by opening Photoshop.
I can't speak for other designers but Adobe products just like my computer or Dropbox or servers is the cost of doing business. Yes : it adds up to $1,000+ a year and the Cloud? It makes it easier to move the software to new computers and I dont have to keep track of keys and boxes with discs. I have 3 legal copies of Adobe Creative Suite 2 sitting on my bookshelf and they are decorations. Did I get to pay once and own the software? Yes. Was that valuable for an industry that moves at the speed of light? No.
I think you deal with it by building the cost of Adobe into your prices as any business should. Adobe offers products that are expensive to produce and maintain and without it we would not be able to do our job. At the end of the day, I think for practicality renting software is a good idea. Its by its nature going to become obsolete. Thats not Adobe's fault. There are things I want to own like my computer, my shoes, clothing. But, software, I prefer the rental model it makes business easier.
There are cheaper options like Sketch, Pixelmator, etc, They are cheaper for a reason. They offer a little competition and that's good. For some things they are better. But, they can't quite offer the power that Adobe does so what can you do but roll with it?
I may be one of few to say this but I don't find this to be unreasonable. In fact, I like it better.
Years ago when I started a web interactive firm with 8 people on staff. It cost me over $16,000 to properly and legally license software for my company( not just Adobe but a fair amount of it). At that time, you only had the option of paying a large upfront sum for design software or pirating it. I would have KILLED for the ability to translate the into a monthly cost. To me its a fallacy to talk about business costs in yearly terms because it almost always translates to a monthly issue. You can argue semantics but Id rather spend more money over a year then less all at once: because in most cases, that helps you make payroll and pay your bills.
Currently, I pay $99/mo for the Creative Suite Master Collection. In 2008, that cost over $1500 up-front. I think for all its issues, Adobe makes products that enable me to do my job and they are tools that I generally have no issue with and I pretty much start my day by opening Photoshop.
I can't speak for other designers but Adobe products just like my computer or Dropbox or servers is the cost of doing business. Yes : it adds up to $1,000+ a year and the Cloud? It makes it easier to move the software to new computers and I dont have to keep track of keys and boxes with discs. I have 3 legal copies of Adobe Creative Suite 2 sitting on my bookshelf and they are decorations. Did I get to pay once and own the software? Yes. Was that valuable for an industry that moves at the speed of light? No.
I think you deal with it by building the cost of Adobe into your prices as any business should. Adobe offers products that are expensive to produce and maintain and without it we would not be able to do our job. At the end of the day, I think for practicality renting software is a good idea. Its by its nature going to become obsolete. Thats not Adobe's fault. There are things I want to own like my computer, my shoes, clothing. But, software, I prefer the rental model it makes business easier.
There are cheaper options like Sketch, Pixelmator, etc, They are cheaper for a reason. They offer a little competition and that's good. For some things they are better. But, they can't quite offer the power that Adobe does so what can you do but roll with it?