This article was written in various places about Pixelmator, Sketch, etc a few years back. How'd that go?
Less than one hour of freelance time pays for the power and Dozens of apps/services I receive with my Creative Cloud subscription each month.
Adobe is the industry standard and is comparatively cheaper than back when you bought upgrades each year or so for each separate application.
Nobody looks at your resume and says, "Oh, Wow! They use Canva!"
To be fair, from me - a professional photographer - Adobe has extracted more money from subscriptions than they did standalone apps. I never needed to pay to upgrade on every cycle - from v3 on, i have gone 4-5 years between upgrades & even then was typically tied to OS requirements on new hardware.
The subscription has added a great benefit of instant access to other Adobe apps i use a whole lot less often, but can grab when i need to.
This article was written in various places about Pixelmator, Sketch, etc a few years back. How'd that go?
Less than one hour of freelance time pays for the power and Dozens of apps/services I receive with my Creative Cloud subscription each month.
Adobe is the industry standard and is comparatively cheaper than back when you bought upgrades each year or so for each separate application.
Nobody looks at your resume and says, "Oh, Wow! They use Canva!"
The purported reputation of the so-called ‘industry standards’ is exactly what kills competition and permits the likes of Adobe, Microsoft, or AVID to charge the users inane amounts of money without really having to make their products user-friendly.
Windows, Office / 365, Photoshop, and Pro Tools are some fine examples of those ‘standards’. Due to this ridiculous mentality, whenever you bring up Pixelmator, iWork, DaVinci Resolve, Fruity Loops, or even macOS, there’s always a chance ‘standard’ users will get preferential treatment in professional settings, even if the end result is exactly the same or, possibly, better. Ultimately, the tools don’t matter as much as the end result, yet most people fail to understand that.
Meanwhile, the watchdogs rarely investigate the domination of said ‘standards’.
This article was written in various places about Pixelmator, Sketch, etc a few years back. How'd that go?
Less than one hour of freelance time pays for the power and Dozens of apps/services I receive with my Creative Cloud subscription each month.
Adobe is the industry standard and is comparatively cheaper than back when you bought upgrades each year or so for each separate application.
Nobody looks at your resume and says, "Oh, Wow! They use Canva!"
The purported reputation of the so-called ‘industry standards’ is exactly what kills competition and permits the likes of Adobe, Microsoft, or AVID to charge the users inane amounts of money without really having to make their products user-friendly.
Windows, Office / 365, Photoshop, and Pro Tools are some fine examples of those ‘standards’. Due to this ridiculous mentality, whenever you bring up Pixelmator, iWork, DaVinci Resolve, Fruity Loops, or even macOS, there’s always a chance ‘standard’ users will get preferential treatment in professional settings, even if the end result is exactly the same or, possibly, better. Ultimately, the tools don’t matter as much as the end result, yet most people fail to understand that.
Meanwhile, the watchdogs rarely investigate the domination of said ‘standards’.
After Adobe, Microsoft, Avid, add Autodesk to the list another creature company........
This article was written in various places about Pixelmator, Sketch, etc a few years back. How'd that go?
Less than one hour of freelance time pays for the power and Dozens of apps/services I receive with my Creative Cloud subscription each month.
Adobe is the industry standard and is comparatively cheaper than back when you bought upgrades each year or so for each separate application.
Nobody looks at your resume and says, "Oh, Wow! They use Canva!"
The purported reputation of the so-called ‘industry standards’ is exactly what kills competition and permits the likes of Adobe, Microsoft, or AVID to charge the users inane amounts of money without really having to make their products user-friendly.
Windows, Office / 365, Photoshop, and Pro Tools are some fine examples of those ‘standards’. Due to this ridiculous mentality, whenever you bring up Pixelmator, iWork, DaVinci Resolve, Fruity Loops, or even macOS, there’s always a chance ‘standard’ users will get preferential treatment in professional settings, even if the end result is exactly the same or, possibly, better. Ultimately, the tools don’t matter as much as the end result, yet most people fail to understand that.
Meanwhile, the watchdogs rarely investigate the domination of said ‘standards’.
After Adobe, Microsoft, Avid, add Autodesk to the list another creature company........
I wholeheartedly disagree with the author of the article. The author is clearly not a software entrepreneur. Which is fine, but the author seems completely oblivious of economics.
The subscription model was born out of necessity to ensure a more predictable, scalable of income. Running a company is expensive: the vast majority of cost is staffing who are also getting paid on a monthly basis.
You can see the extremes on the App Stores: hundreds of developers who are barely seen by the public, impose upon us a subscription model for something that is completely out of line with their offering. They have to try *something* because initial payments and the rare upgrade pricing is not going to sustain their business. Yes, subscription fatigue ensues, but it’s not what the developers want.
I wonder why Affinity was bought. Was their business model sustainable, were they able to exist independently?
They were probably not in a good spot or hitting any SaaS/PaaS-like metrics. With a low ARR the owners most likely opted for a share swap and ride the Canva wave: a company thriving of, yes, subscriptions!
Canva can absorb the cost of the Affinity staff and will most likely revise their pricing within the next 12 months to push people towards a subscription while offering a perpetual licensing alternative for a much higher price (remember, they said “fair” pricing - that definition is very subjective depending on whether you ask a shareholder or customer).
So, no, this is not great news at all. It confirms you need to have considerable market share and a subscription model to be able to acquire small fish who are trying to avoid the subscription model and offer more value to the customer. I’m just happy the buyer isn’t Adobe.
Adobe Creative Cloud is a relative bargain if one is working professionally, on a full-time basis.
I believe that these developers need to rethink their strategies to serve real-world employment circumstances as they evolve throughout one's lifecycle.
Everything you described applies to the world of cad software Autodesk has a virtual monopoly. EU, DOJ where are you?
OH yeah, CAD software. AutoDesk? That’s like Microsoft.
I use Vectorworks and their pricing has become horrific.
The parent company, Nemetschek started putting the gun to users’ heads when they acquired Vectorworks from the original developer, Diehl Graphsoft.
I pay $1000 per year for a full license upgrade with all the various modules. I don’t use them all, all the time, but when I need them, I’ve got to have them, so I cough up the dough. I do residential interiors, retail and exhibit design. I pay for an Adobe CC license, too.
If I were to skip only ONE upgrade, they’d charge something like 3x the price. Talk about killing off your own user base… It used to be you could skip an upgrade, or even two, which came every 18 months to 2 years.
Now, they’re yearly, introducing lots of new bugs, which they take forever to fix. If they ever fix them.
Not only is it expensive, but incredibly disruptive. EVERY file has to be converted to the “new” format. A total PITA.
Professional freelancers, designers and agencies really don't have reason to opt for the affinity-Canva relationship because while Adobe Creative Cloud might be a little pricey, it offers state-of-the-art resources for them and, besides, it's a tax write-off. As for me, a designer who started with Pagemaker (LOL), I do all my own work for my own publishing business and I am ecstatic over the merge. I cannot wait to say adios, farewell, and good riddance to Adobe.
Comments
To be fair, from me - a professional photographer - Adobe has extracted more money from subscriptions than they did standalone apps.
I never needed to pay to upgrade on every cycle - from v3 on, i have gone 4-5 years between upgrades & even then was typically tied to OS requirements on new hardware.
The subscription has added a great benefit of instant access to other Adobe apps i use a whole lot less often, but can grab when i need to.
So, no, this is not great news at all. It confirms you need to have considerable market share and a subscription model to be able to acquire small fish who are trying to avoid the subscription model and offer more value to the customer.
I’m just happy the buyer isn’t Adobe.
I use Vectorworks and their pricing has become horrific.
If I were to skip only ONE upgrade, they’d charge something like 3x the price. Talk about killing off your own user base…
It used to be you could skip an upgrade, or even two, which came every 18 months to 2 years.