Adobe Creative Cloud Pros and Cons

Eric Hansen.tv

A lot has been made recently of Adobe’s announcement that all their software will be switching to Creative Cloud subscriptions, abandoning the software-in-a-box model. Even Hitler has weighed in. I’ve been using Creative Cloud personally for over 6 months, and most of my clients have made the switch, so I thought I would throw my hat in the opinion ring.

Overall my experience has been positive, but Diglloyd’s semi-conspiracy theory posts have made me pause for a second to look at what’s really going on, and try to look at this from other user’s points of view.

Last year at NAB 2012 I spoke with a few Adobe reps. Back then you could buy Creative Cloud, the apps individually, or Creative Suite as a package. I was still a CS5.5 user. The reps said they viewed CC as the future and they eventually wanted everyone on this model. So their announcement didn’t take me completely by surprise. Along similar lines, I found it strange at the time that they called all the apps CS6, even though for a few apps like Dreamweaver, Encore and others, the update from CS5 (or 5.5) didn’t justify paying for an “upgrade”. They were just called CS6 because all the apps are now CS6.

PROs (as I see them)

- Immediate upgrades – My main apps are After Effects and Premiere. In the last few years these apps have been through huge changes, many at breakneck speed. I need to be completely up to date to get compatibility with new GPUs, new features and bug fixes, etc. I couldn’t afford to be 6 months to a year behind. Creative Cloud made this easy. It’s nice knowing that another major upgrade won’t cost me as it’s included in the subscription. read more...