The Extra Cost
People always tell me that the subscription price is great value. However to me it feels like those higher purchase deals where the monthly cost looks so affordable, until you add up the lifetime costs. Also once you stop paying, you lose access, so it is difficult to ever leave.
Of course the other argument is that you get lifetime updates.
There is some benefit in this, but no one ever seems to question whether the updates have any value. The truth is when PS went subscription it was a mature product. There has be nothing revolutionary in photo-processing since CS6. There has been a few tweaks, and UI improvements, but nothing that stands out. Also do not underestimate that a lot of the power of PS comes not from the product itself, but the 3rd part add-ons such as Topaz and NIK. Take those away and it would be like nn iphone without an app store.
And that is the big problem with the subscription model. It makes the supplier lazy. There is the old Dilbert cartoon where Dilbert is rotating his hands and says to Wally, "we are getting paid for this". If Adobe never did another update, they would still rake in the cash from their existing subscription base. It makes companies lazy and inhibits innovation. The only way Adobe have got away with it for now is because of their gorilla position in the market. If someting comes along with 90% of the features, but at a non-subscription price, they may find they have lost the ability to react
Biting the hand that feeds IT
