Adobe, all CS Suite Owners,
When is ADOBE going to come up with a subscription model that makes good business sense for small businesses and freelancers that have already invested in Suites seats? This whole cloud thing is just a bad deal all the way around for current suite owners. And it's made worse because we are being left out on several of the new tools (MUSE, and EDGE) being used to entice users to the cloud. Both od these tools should be part of the "Master Collection" and "Web Preimum". I could see where those just coming to adobe might find the "Cloud" thing inviting because of the low entry price but when you figure that you are committing to either paying every month or being out of business (ie your software stops working) it just doesn't make good business sense for the long term or for those that have already paid a lot for suite seats. I can see that Adobe would love to get everyone "hooked" on the cloud but there has to be a way that they can get their money and the current suite OWNERS can get the security of OWNERSHIP and maintain value in their investment that they paid for.
Consider the model used by autodesk for 3Dmax. Example: We bought (OWN) 3 seats of max which are ours to use as long as we can use them to do what we need, just like buying a seat of say "CS6 master collection". Each year we also pay approx $500 "subscription" fee per seat for which we get all updates and new features as they are developed as well as any dot or new full releases upgrades as they become available. This "subscription" renews every year. We found that this model works very well for us because we know exactly what our software cost will be for the year and can budget accordingly. So you say well isn't that the same thing that you get with a "Creative Cloud" subscription ?? No it's not. The major and most important difference here is the security of ownership and retained value in what we purchased to being with. With 3Dmax, we "invested" in the software seat purchase upfront and we pay for a yearly subscription to keep it up to date, but if at any time, for any reason we decide to stop the subscription what we have to that date will continue to work for as long as we can keep the supported OS working, ie it's our to use as long as we want. This is a very very important feature for a small business person or freelancer. We all know that the tide can swing fast in this business and if your happened to be a current "Creative Cloud" subscriber and you stop your subscription for ANY reason you are DOA, Out Of Business.
So as Suite owners where does that leave us if we are enticed into the "Cloud" model. Well since the majority of Abode apps project files are NOT backward compatible then after a year or 2 of development cycles spent floating in the "cloud" our investment in suite seats is worth $0 ! Think about it.
All the features, updates, and advances offered to "Cloud" ONLY subscribers should be offered to Suite seat owners for the same price. The main difference being once our updates/upgrades etc are downloaded and installed they become part of our suite that we own. We paid for the suite and we will be paying for the updates/upgrades through the subscription, just as if we waited and paid for an "upgrade" so they are ours to use as long as we want. Adobe gets their money (which regardless of what they tell you IS what the Cloud thing is really all about) and suite owner retain value and security in their investment.
Adobe, It's the small business and freelancers that have PURCHASED your products over the years that have help get you where you are. Don't abandoned us.
Joel