Is Adobe Creative Cloud Worth $600 a Year? Maybe

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Change is always painful for people.  Even in the world of software.  Apple fired the first shot last year by eliminating boxes…their software became available only by download.  And now Adobe is continuing upon this inevitable path and some people aren’t happy.

Specifically, Adobe is getting ready to offer Creative Cloud.  What is it?  For $600 a year (or $50 a month) you can download, install and use Adobe’s entire Creative Suite Master Collection (18 titles covering pretty much every Adobe flagship product).  You can do this on both Windows and Mac platforms.

But there’s more.  You get access to their entire suite of touch apps (which run on mobile devices).  You get access to Adobe Business Catalyst (their all-in-one solution for hosting business web sites).  You get access to Typekit (access to thousands of web fonts).  You get access to Digital Publishing Suite (create mobile apps without programming).  You get access to Lightroom 4 (photo management) when it’s released.  And you get 20GB of cloud storage.

So why are some people mad? Well, they fear Adobe is moving to a pure subscription model, where you have to pay every month (or every year) or you can’t get your hands on their software (or at least the latest version of it).  Adobe claims this isn’t the case…at least not yet.  But ultimately, this is probably where all software is headed.  Just watch what Apple does in the next few years…they are usually great predictors of software evolution.

Regardless of speculating where the software industry may be headed though, a more urgent question might be “is Adobe Creative Cloud a good deal for me now?”.  And the answer depends on what you do.

Take for example person A.  They spring for a box edition of Adobe’s Creative Suite Master Collection (currently $2,500 for a single platform version).  And they use it for the next 5-7 years without ever getting an upgrade version.  Simple math will tell you that Creative Cloud isn’t for them.

But then look at person B. They want or need the latest versions of Creative Suite, so they buy an upgrade with every new version.  And they also take advantage of the other features offered in Creative Cloud…like Business Catalyst, Digital Publishing Suite and Lightroom.  And they used both PC’s and Macs.  Again, going by simple math, Creative Cloud is a good choice for them.

In other words, Creative Cloud offers a lot of bang for the buck.  But you have to be a regular user of Adobe’s products (i.e. your livelihood depends on them) for it to make sense.

There is no official word yet on when Creative Cloud will be released.  But you can sign-up to be notified and learn more about Creative Cloud in general by clicking here.

 

 

2 comments

  • I actually like this idea, since I’m one for new versions. But also the ability to use their entire library. $2500 would take 4 years to make up the cost, and four years is a “lifetime” for software.

  • Good info, Dave!

    I’m excited about Creative Cloud. i just signed up for their $29/mo deal. (After 12 mos is $49/mo) … BUT, because I work in video production, I would otherwise pay more to have several of their packages. Cloud includes free Version updates. The box purchase doesn’t.

    Creative Cloud also allows me to run Adobe on both my iMAC desktop and my Windows laptop. If buy the box I have to buy 2 copies to use on both mac and PC.

    Bottom-line: Some people love this. Others don’t need it.