Adobe CS 5.5
I’ve seen a lot of people talking about Adobe’s announcement of version 5.5 of their Creative Suite. Everyone mentions the fact that you can now rent the software instead of buying it outright.
What I haven’t seen anywhere yet (I’m sure I can’t be the first, but I haven’t seen it) is this:
CS 5.5 Web Premium: $1799
CS 5.5 Web Premium / month: $135
12 x CS 5.5 Web Premium: $1620
Oooh, look, it’s cheaper! But then you have to pay all over again the next year! If you’re the sort of person that simply must have the absolute latest version of everything, then this might be a good deal, except:
Adobe now plans to have milestone Creative Suite production introductions at 24-month intervals
Now, I did chop off a bit explaining that there would be significant mid-cycle releases, but surely those should be released free-of-charge, just like pretty much every other software company?
I’m still over stating it slightly - if you buy your subscription for a whole year at a time, you get it for $89/month, so
1-year CS 5.5 Web Premium: $1068
but with 24-monthly product releases, you’re still paying over $2000 dollars for each release.
The whole thing will only be “cheaper” if Adobe ends up charging for all those mid-cycle releases if you’re not renting.
How long before they only provide their software as subscription?