Owned software is not just about price
I am very concerned about privacy and there are some of my clients that restrict me legally from placing their files in a network, I or they do not have control over. The prism scandal also recently highlighted that my files and my clients file could be potentially accessed by any government agency who deemed it necessary. Imagine this scenario.. you are doing a documentary in India on a sensitive topic. The Indian government tells adobe we wish to look at my files …is adobe going to say no?
What happens when the cloud goes down or gets hacked?
I am a gamer and recently EA’s servers were hacked and went haywire for a week.. as a gamer I was annoyed.. imagine if your business went down for a week because you could not validate your software.. will adobe compensate you for missing deadlines and losing clients? The EULA will absolve them of any liability… this may seem hypothetical but Adobe has already had to disable functionality because parts of the cloud did not work right… With a perpetual license I controlled installation and could deal with the majority of conflicts computer failures etc… with the cloud the software controls me.
The Cloud is a Psuedo Cloud
The cloud is not true cloud software and requires users to still download the bulk of the apps to run on their own machines.. if it were truly a cloud piece of software you would not be limited to an installation of only two machines.. you should be able to walk up to any computer and run the software merely by logging in.. (bit misleading).. the only thing that has changed is the license .. before it was perpetual .. now you have to pay perpetually.
Price..
The disparity in pricing around the world is very scary.. 50% more in Europe.. for a product that is delivered in the same fashion everywhere. As a web delivered package, operating costs are similar so why is this? The reason is Adobe knows it can control prices and where it sees fit gouge customers.. One Brazilian user on the forums asked why the cloud cost $95 per month (the price has now dropped probably due to compaints).. all users should be very very wary of this..
The Cloud is exclusionary and accidentally discriminates
In many places the cloud is not even available, either because of poor internet access or Adobe doesn’t offer it.. (this includes the US..you would be surprised by how many users live in remote areas).. Adobe is not just software it is now a community of creative people, and a community is measured on how it treats everyone.. not just the majority
Featureless
Many small users don’t need a lot of the features that the cloud offers… I am the web designer, editor, sound guy.. I don’t need to share and if I do I can use a free service such as dropbox
For some a perpetual license actually works out to be cheaper… may not for you where you live but for others it is better to own..
Motivation..
Prior to the cloud Adobe was motivated to keep its customers happy by providing new and wowing features to keep us upgrading.. with the cloud motivation is reversed.. stop subscribing and goodbye to all your work. They will fiddle and faddle and try and come up with an inbetween resolution but the reality is that in order to keep editing files you either have to keep up payments or own the software... Offering CS6 after three years sounds good but the eventually a new widget will come out that cannot (or will not) be functional in CS6 and you will be forced to into the cloud to use it.. What happens if you already own CS6
So in essence the cloud looks fluffy and nice… and may work for some users, for others it is a nightmare waiting to happen… we are not against the cloud .. we merely want our choice back (like last year) to own.