Adobe is significantly reducing the price of the “All Apps” package with a decent offer of 40% discount, saving users $240 per year. The offer is valid to users within the USA and UK. Is it because users are abandoning the ship?

User’s bitterness

Adobe has absorbed a lot of ricochets and negative feedback due to its strategic decision to change the Creative Cloud applications update options. In case you are not familiar with this saga, making the story short, Adobe Creative Cloud customers from now on will only have direct download access to the two most recent major versions of Creative Cloud desktop applications. 

Limitation of user’s version management

This decision harms the freedom which a user can manage his software. Most of the loyal professional users want to stick with older versions, especially when it comes to sophisticated software like NLEs, to ensure that the new version is stable and bugs free. A useful reference for this caution is Premiere Pro 13.1 version, which contained a list of critical bugs that blocked functionality of Premiere. Users who updated to this version suffered from crashes and serious issues, which made them downgrade the version ASAP. 

Impaired user experience

The second reason users would want to remain with the older version is user experience. After getting familiar with the current stable release, users would appreciate to continue and use that version, especially when using sophisticated editing software. 

Forcing users to update: A No-Go strategy

A software company must not force its users to upgrade. Adobe broke this rule by threatening its users on claims of third-party infringement when using old versions. Adobe said that customers who continue to use or deploy older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud might face potential claims of infringement by third parties. In other words, when using your good and old version, you are using a kind of a pirate version. Basically, Adobe means: Upgrade, or you’ll be sued. That is an absurd situation.

Adobe said that customers who continue to use or deploy older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud might face potential claims of infringement by third parties

The subscription model: Good for the company, bad for the users

“I miss when Adobe would give you software on a disk, and it was just yours until you upgrade….The subscription system is just there to make more money”. That is some of the users’ comments regarding the Adobe saga. Maybe it’s time to shift to one-time-paying model since it seems that the subscription model is only suitable for the companies to make more income. It’s not working well on the Creative Cloud ecosystem.

40% Discount “All Apps” Package

Anyway, the above situation caused to users migration from Adobe to other, more customized, friendly, and affordable options. Maybe that’s the reason behind this Adobe’s attractive deal. Adobe offers “All Apps” package with a significant price reduction of 40% discount, which means saving $240 per year. However, this offer is valid to users within the USA and UK. The deal is available on the annual packages, paid either monthly or per year. Nevertheless, the monthly based package remains at its regular price. For US customers, this results in a saving of $240 a year, and for those in the UK, that comes to a £231.12 discount.

Adobe offers “All Apps” package with a significant price reduction of 40% discount, which means saving $240 per year.

Is that too little too late? Time will tell. Anyway, it sounds like a good deal. I believe that the discount is relevant to other countries as well. Contact Adobe to ask for this deal (in case you are outside of USA/ UK). There is a chance that you’ll get it.

Final thoughts

Adobe must fight for its users. The subscription model is complicated and expensive. Users love to own the software, pay once, and have it forever. The user wants to use old and stable versions. There are a lot of professional alternatives, like FCPX and the free DaVinci Resolve which continue to improve exponentially. Users know this and migrate out of Premiere. This deal is a good starting point, but is it enough? What do you think?