Still for anyone proclaiming they need professional software, 10 bucks a month is ridiculously cheap. No matter how long you pay it, Photoshop for 10 bucks a month is a steal. Even if you paid this for 10 years, you'd still be at a total of what the software would probably cost by then if you bought a perpetual license. But you also got all updates on the way that you would have had to buy separately with perpetual. Whether or not you wanted/needed those updates is a different topic of course, but that's the math.
I think it all comes down to whether or not one considers software a "product" or a "service."
For decades, software has been sold as a product. Whether you download it, or get it on disk, you have a somewhat tangible file, (or files,) in your possession that allows you to install the software on your computer. If you get a new computer, you can use the file/disk to install the software on your new computer, (with some limitations spelled out in the license.)
Adobe is trying to change the perception of software as a product, redefining it as a service, something you pay for the use of for a finite period of time. Like cable or cell service. If you buy into that definition, then you won't have a problem with the fact you lose access when you cannot pay the subscription service.
But what happens when it's not just one software suite? What happens when we have to pay Adobe for all our graphics programs, and Microsoft/Apple/etc. for an operating system and office apps, and who knows who else for what other programs that become necessities in our workflow?
What happens is more people turn to open source software, donating to projects that can't be bought up or sold out.
In short, software as a service is not a sustainable business model. I don't care how big Adobe is. Their current success with subscription-only software has other companies looking to do the same. At some point, the need to pay subscriptions for software will outstrip the market's ability to pay. New businesses will be started by people who turned their back on proprietary software, and who won't turn back to it later. Those businesses will be looking to hire people who are experienced running the open source programs they use. Demand for people who are comfortable and productive using Linux and Linux based programs will become the hiring norm.
And software companies that relied on the subscription-only format will be scrambling to sell perpetual licenses again. But I predict it will be too little, too late and the markets those companies hope to win back will have all but dried up.
Allegorithmic did it right. A subscription service coupled with perpetual licenses. Customers could chose what made the most sense for their use and budget. And if they wanted to, they could convert a subscription to a perpetual license. And once they bought the PL, they could still buy into a maintenance plan.
As a previously loyal Adobe customer, I would be delighted if the culture of Allegorithmic infected Adobe and brought about change. But with decades of experience and observation of large corporations, I'm afraid it will be this wonderful Allegorithmic culture that withers and dies. I pray the Allegorithmic software doesn't suffer the same fate.
