Too Big To Flail? Terms Of (Dis)Service
Adobe's A Fumbler =cWe're On Tumblr
Once upon a time, I was a Adobe fan boy.
In the past week, with Adobeās updated Terms Of Service causing a bit of a shitstorm online, I was reminded why I decided to give up my subscription.
Not only had the price gotten far too high, the company seems to think its customers have no choice but to use them. And while most corporations prefer to license from āindustry leadersā like Adobe, freelancers and small businesses are more willing and able to try new tools and see what works best for them.
I started my design career unable to afford (legal) entry into the Adobe world. And didnāt like the idea of using āliberatedā/pirated software. Then or now.
So, for the first few years, I used Macromedia Fireworks to design everything from websites big and small to small business branding.
Not a conventional choices, but, for me, it was the best of Adobeās Photoshop and Illustratorā¦at a price most designers could afford. (If memory serves, my first copy came as a freebie with a scanner I bought.)
And then, in 2005, Adobe bought Macromedia.
The final release of Fireworks, Adobe Fireworks CS6, was in 2012, right before the company launched the subscription-based Adobe Creative Cloud in 2013.
With both independent artists and designers and corporations big and small paying for licenses, the company had money to burn. And seemed to be spending it on innovationsā¦and acquisitions.
Based on the annual Adobe MAX conventions I attended, the profits were pouring in.
Long story short: Creative Cloud is a good deal. And a not-so-good deal.
In 2012, I was paying ~$1K every year or so for a new āversionā of the Creative Suite.
Creative Cloudās monthly plan started out cheap: $19.99 if memory serves. Then the price went up. And up. And up. And UP. Itās currently $59.99 a month.
While still less than before, if you read the Terms Of Service (and who does really?) there are now a lot more strings attached to all those bells and whistles.
Less focus on innovation, more focus on moderation.
Slowly but surely, services like Adobe Stock became as important as products like Adobe Photoshop. While Adobe had long been the 800-pound gorilla in the room, they became what I consider a monopoly.
Any company considered ātoo big to failā tends to become so big they flailā¦fast.
By 2020, in the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns, I was working 10-12 hours a day on a corporate job, using Adobe Creative Cloud. The job was stressful and Adobeās bloated and buggy software didnāt help matters. So any free time I had was often spent testing software alternativesā¦and plotting my exit from that job.
I was looking for alternatives because, frankly, I was sick and tired of helping Adobe and my now-former employers become bigger corporate monsters.
And not the good kind of monstersā¦with cookies. They increasingly only offered crumbs. So my cookie finally crumbled.
My search for software alternatives was relatively short:
On iOS: Procreate was fun (and useful) for art and concepting, but not exactly the Photoshop āreplacementā I needed.
On Mac: I tried and bought Affinity Photo. In May 2020.
So why did I wait until June 2023 to give up my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription?
Uh, well, uhā¦it can be harder for āold dogsā to learn new tricks and start new careers.
Long story short: While itās been a mixed bag of nuts, leaving both Adobe and the company I worked for were necessary steps in my own personal and professional development. Neither were easy or fun decisions.
Like most people, Iām doing the best I can with the talent and tools I have.
Iām sure those working for Adobe are too. Or at least doing their best to increase profits for their stock holders. Cuz thatās what corporations are in business to do.
No regrets walking away from almost 20 years of using a really good software suite. Affinity is a really good alternative. Not perfect. But no one and nothing is.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
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