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Adobe's new pricing strategy

SightLine

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adobe.com

update is 20% off as mentioned previously in this thread.

Actually - FWIW - if anyonbe wants to save a couple of extra bucks.... through Nov. 29th Adobe has 30% off everything. Not sure if you have to get the email from Adobe or not to get this deal though - attached a screenshot of the email. That puts the upgrade cost for CS4 Design Premium to 5.5 at $454.30. Just checked by adding it to my cart in the Adobe store and that is the price it gives me. We have 2 of the suites. Already upgraded one a few months ago for file compatability from clients. Debating on upgrading the other one now. I doubt it will be this good of a discount again.

Aside from that - I cannot say I like the new upgrade policies either.

On the stroke/outline comments. I think of and OUTline as just that, it is OUTside of whatever the object is - period with the ability to add distance between the object and the outline. A stroke can be inside, centered, or outside of the object with no way of having space between the object and the stroke. Just my way of thinking on that matter though.
 

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CES020

New Member
Just got off an online chat with an Adobe rep:



Robert: Jim, there is no new upgrade policy is released.

Robert: You can upgrade from any last 3 versions.

Jim: I'm on a forum and today there was a post with this link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57...?tag=cnetRiver about some new policy. Not sure if it's correct or not.

Robert: Jim, that was not announced by Adobe, please ignore that post.

Jim: Ok...gotta go, thank you.

JB

Perhaps he should keep up with his own company website, which clearly states the new direction in the policy from a SVP :

http://blogs.adobe.com/conversation...creative-suite-new-choices-for-customers.html
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Actually - FWIW - if anyonbe wants to save a couple of extra bucks.... through Nov. 29th Adobe has 30% off everything. Not sure if you have to get the email from Adobe or not to get this deal though - attached a screenshot of the email. That puts the upgrade cost for CS4 Design Premium to 5.5 at $454.30. Just checked by adding it to my cart in the Adobe store and that is the price it gives me. We have 2 of the suites. Already upgraded one a few months ago for file compatability from clients. Debating on upgrading the other one now. I doubt it will be this good of a discount again.

Aside from that - I cannot say I like the new upgrade policies either.

On the stroke/outline comments. I think of and OUTline as just that, it is OUTside of whatever the object is - period with the ability to add distance between the object and the outline. A stroke can be inside, centered, or outside of the object with no way of having space between the object and the stroke. Just my way of thinking on that matter though.


Upgrade to PSCS5 from CS2 is only $139.00. I don't think it could get much sweeter than that. I'm pulling the trigger.


JB
 

Techman

New Member
when installing the upgrade for corel you are not required to produce a disk or a previous version key.

Does adobe follow this same policy? Does the installer ask for a previous version or4 key?
 

oldgoatroper

Roper of Goats. Old ones.
Adobe's stuff also has to be validated after its installed before it will work -- this requires a working internet connection.

And it must be un-validated before you can uninstall it if you want to move it to a newer computer.
 

Bly

New Member
Keeping Adobe products up to date is a business overhead much like paying rent or insurance. Sure, I wish it was cheaper but it is what it is.

When I started printing QuarkXpress was the main layout app and you had to stay up with that as well as PS and Illustrator. At least Quark has dropped off the overhead list. It wasn't cheap either.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Keeping Adobe products up to date is a business overhead much like paying rent or insurance. Sure, I wish it was cheaper but it is what it is.

Ditto.

I will say that the Adobe upgrades add enough new goodies each time to make it worth the cost of the product, and the learning curve.

I've upgraded SignLab twice, and except for one or two tools, the interface remains hoplessly lame. That's why I do a majority of my design work in Illy.

JB
 

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Maybe this will make y'all feel better. One program that I use costs 5 figures. Thankfully that's not what I paid, I got a killer upgrade price, but be thankful that the adobe suite doesn't cost that much, much less just one program.
 

JoshLoring

New Member
What's all this about stroking? If anyone is striking at this age you need to grow up!
I HATE when I get files from clients that have strokes. It shows they don't know what the are doing.
 
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Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
I really hope Adobe isn't serious about this crazy subscription pricing scheme. They really are asking for a nasty backlash.

I'm pretty angry about this stuff since graphics software upgrade prices have been getting pretty ridiculous in recent years. Back in the 1990s it didn't matter what previous version of Photoshop or Illustrator you had. If you had any version the upgrade price was the same. They started messing with that when the Creative Suite package arrived. Corel briefly experimented with that variable pricing idea, but moved back to a one price fits all model on upgrades. Anyone remember ''competitive upgrades"? Back in the 1990s graphics software packages were delivering more ground breaking features AND being more price conscious. Now the improvements are marginal and incremental yet the cost is significantly higher.

I have the feeling some MBA bean counting "suit" gave the executives at Adobe some naively positive prediction about how much more money they would make if they forced their registered customers into a revolving monthly payment model that never ended. Increased positive cash flow makes lots of bean counters salivate like Pavlov's dogs.

There's two major problems with this subscription idea.

1. The monthly subscription model is ultimately quite a bit more expensive for the customer than buying an upgrade box once every 18 months or so.

2. Not every creative suite upgrade is worth buying. I have sat out certain version cycles because of underwhelming improvements. But this new scheme forces the Adobe customer to buy the upgrade even if it is a lemon under the threat of having to pay full price for waiting. That's a rip-off.

If I have to pay full price for sitting out one single upgrade cycle then I'll consider myself no longer that company's loyal customer and be far more open to alternatives from competitors like Apple, Autodesk, Corel, etc.

Did it ever occur to Adobe that the economy in the United States and much of the developed world is really in a bad funk? Did it occur to them that any advertising related business (including sign making) usually takes it on the chin pretty hard when times are tough?

Here's a nasty alternative those guys obviously have not considered: if the price is not right lots of customers are more than willing to keep using old software and old computers. Adobe could see their sales plummet like crazy and see all that predicted positive cash flow not arrive at all.

Most sign companies and other graphics related companies are small businesses that are already struggling with price gouging coming from other areas. We have to pay a fortune in worker's comp insurance premiums for anyone working on a crane truck or even using dangerous machinery in the shop. Health insurance costs are outrageous. Add to this the Johnny-come-lately companies that drive down the price on anything, eliminating as much profit from the market as possible. We gotta be able to make a freaking living!

I have the latest CS5.5 Master Collection suite. But that's only because I had to buy it since my old CS3 suite couldn't work on my new Windows 7 computer. Given that the CS5.5 suite is far more 64-bit OS friendly, I could actually see myself using it for a much longer amount of time than I spent with CS3.
 

Custom_Grafx

New Member
Open source might flourish as a result if there are enough people annoyed with this kind of thing. Isn't inkscape actually pretty good for what it is? Would love to see that stuff take off.
 

David Wright

New Member
Open source might flourish as a result if there are enough people annoyed with this kind of thing. Isn't inkscape actually pretty good for what it is? Would love to see that stuff take off.

I was thinking more of Gimp.

I have CS3 but also have version 7 on one computer and I doubt there has ever come up an issue when using 7 that I wish I was using CS3. So future versions aren't appealing to me much anymore.
 

RandyToons

New Member
Without reading through this...If it hasn't been mentioned, I can have my CS on two of my computers and have to deactivate one if I wish to change to another computer.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Bobby H.
1. The monthly subscription model is ultimately quite a bit more expensive for the customer than buying an upgrade box once every 18 months or so.

In a way, I think the subsciption business model is an excellent way to get new players into the game. If a small start-up doesn't have the funds to spend on a stand alone package, it's a no brainer to go the monthly subscription route. Then, as their business becomes self sustaining, they can purchase the stand alone software.

I most likely would have started that way, had it been available.

JB
 
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