Wait and CC

PVC by Mark Christiansen

You know the basic storyline, even if the facts are still emerging. We decided it was time to revisit the topic.

Earlier this year Adobe committed to a customer strategy that can accurately be described as bold.

The Creative Cloud offering rather abruptly shifted the Adobe customer relationship to a subscription model, with access to most Adobe software possible only with payment of a monthly fee. We are now month to month. Depending on who you talk to, it is an incredible deal with vastly improved fexibility or a loathesome burden with handcuffs.

With the passing of several months and the release today of the first major interim update since that time, it seems clear that Adobe has no plans to reverse course, and so we decided to revisit what was a hot topic of debate a few months ago. The basic facts and factors haven’t changed too dramatically, so the idea is to gauge where the community is at with Creative Cloud, particularly now that Adobe has had its first chance to deliver on the initial promise of an improved customer experience with CC.

This article avoids anonymous opinions on forums and hagiographies from marketers (full disclosure: I have done a lot of work with Adobe over the years). I decided to trace what seem to be the themes that were common to more than one interviewee, to get the flavor of where Adobe’s customer base in post-production is at. Represented are freelancers and employees or owners of major studios in Hollywood, New York, and Europe, along with such far flung regions as San Francisco and Sydney. Credits, with twitter handles, are included at the end of the article. read more...