Adobe has introduced a way of owning/using Photoshop and other CS5 components by paying a monthly subscription. It is easy enough to see that if this trend continues you could end up paying more for your software than for your housing...

http://www.adobe.com/products/creatives ... ption.html

David

I have had both CS5 and LR3 for less than a year, and would already have paid more for a subscription than for out-right purchase. $95 monthly is the figure that's being discussed.

All of the companies would like to do this, but we simply need everyone to resist the idea and it will die off. Why should I pay a monthly fee to use a piece of software? That's why "The Cloud" is doomed eventually, people will realize that there are ways to do it more securely and cheaper that by paying a monthly fee to do it.

Dusty

Long live the piracy

I wonder how Kevin's math works.

Photoshop: $700 / $35 = 20 months.
I don't see a rental price for Lightroom.

What did I miss?

Photoshop by itself is $35/mo. CS5 is $65 for standard and $95 for premium.

The best bargain is to take a course at the local University and buy the student version! PS for $199, LR for $89.

Dusty

I kept saying I never buy an Adobe product again, but got myself LR3 when there was a special offer at half price

Adobe has missed a trick here - rent for two years, and you can own the product at the end of it.

That would be honest and attractive too.

David

I don't much like the way lots of companies that sell digital products (software, music, movies, books, etc.) are attempting to change the ownership model. Sure, if they succeed it is great for them, but generally worse for customers.

A couple of months ago after quite a lot of research I bought an ebook reader. I finally chose the Amazon Kindle because it, IMO, is the best of the current devices, but the Amazon DRM model for books is terrible (I knew that too before buying). In effect, you pay for the book, but you don't own it, it still belongs to Amazon. You can't give it to charity, you can't sell it, and up until recently you could not even lend it to someone (they now have a very strict lending model that allows it to be lent to someone one time for 2 weeks). Over the years I have bought, read, and given to charity hundreds and hundreds of books. Before buying the Kindle I decided that I would only read free ebooks (older books whose copyright has expired -- currently reading Les Misérables). For any ebooks which are not free then I will buy the print book or get it from the library. If this model takes hold (Amazon is the largest seller of books/ebooks in the U.S. so they have a lot of influence) then it could mean the death of libraries too.

Of course, it is in Amazon's (and Adobe's) interest to try and change the customer relationship to get more money without actually giving ownership to the customer. They, naturally, look out for their interests. I will look out for mine though and won't encourage them.

That's why I refuse to buy any e-books that are not DRM free. It's also why I still buy CDs and rip them to MP3s myself - I can have them forever! Also, since I have an MP3Tunes locker, I can then store them there and d/l them to any device I want.

As to e-book readers - my best friend swears by the Sony model, myself, I'm looking at getting a Nook and rooting it, since it's based on Android.

Dusty

With current IP law, the wheel would be patented and cars would only be able to use fuel from their own manufacturer. Using any fuel would be an IP violation. Aspirine and Penicilene would sell at record prices. Thanks God we didn't have these laws 100 years ago.

Yes, I am not buying any with the current Amazon DRM either. I am not against DRM per se though. If the DRM allows me to use the ebook and then give, sell, or lend it (which means I no longer can use it) just like a print book then I am okay with that. Other companies' ebook DRM is often less strict than Amazon, but still they don't give you ownership of your purchase.



All of my music files come from my own CDs also.



When I was looking at ebook readers 2-3 months ago I narrowed it down to the Kindle and the Nook. I spent time using each of them in addition to reading info on the internet. I didn't like the Nook much. Thicker, heavier, slower, and it has a very screwy touchscreen underneath the reading screen and it doesn't work well. Very frustrating to use. The Kindle works like a dream though and is thinner, lighter, and much more responsive. I also spent lots of time looking at the availability of books, DRM, etc. before buying. I finally decided to go with the Kindle and am glad I did. I just decided beforehand that it would only be used to read free books. By the way, Amazon in addition to free old books also often puts non-free books on the free list temporarily before being moved back to the non-free list. I check their website from time to time and sometimes download one of their temporary free books before it gets changed back to non-free.