Didn't the inexorable march to cloud-based, metered service actually begin long ago with the development of activation codes and perhaps even of webmail?

Software as a Service has been around for a bit (linking wikipedia because it explains it better than I could). Better web technologies and faster internet connections made it possible for companies to bring it to their consumer products and not severely affect the number of people they can reach.

There are other options, I think it just comes down to what’s important to you. Is there something in particular you’re looking for an alternative to? There are a lot of great open source programs built specifically because people are unhappy with the companies behind the “big market” software in their space. They generally aren’t quite as easy to learn, but the communities try to support anyone who takes an interest.

Anyone who asks a question that begins with a negative (as in “didn’t the…”) has already made up his/her mind as not going to be open to ideas that disagree.

However.

I disagree. Internet built itself on an economic model much like local phone service—basically all you can eat – because in the early days they saw its potential and didn’t want to squelch it too early. SO I would argue that NOW, since everyone is hooked, the ISPs see that and are adjusting their economic model in order to squeeze out every last penny.

Compare internt to cell phones. In the beginning we all paid high per minute fees, and then they got smart and said that usage is better than no usage, and now everyone has unlimited plans.

It is all about maximizing profit, but I disagree with the premise of your question.

Well, my biggest beef is with Adobe, which, by eliminating all traditional sales and forcing the cloud on all customers, screws those “not-quite-top-drawer” customers who have bought [older packages in the first place—the ones being phased out for the next] and the kept those older full-featured packages for many years rather than keep trading up at top dollar. Now everyone pays top dollar or still relatively top dollar for less forever or gets cut off.

I know about open-source and am preparing. But I see this coming everywhere and I don’t like it one bit.

@funkdaddy —I know and I am preparing, but I will miss the ease of use and all the bells and whistles of Adobe.

Well, you never owned software to begin with. You just had a license to use the software. This is just another way to license it.

I’m stopping my use of Photoshop, but not because of the cloud, but because I’ve found better programs that I can use for my purposes.

@Rarebear but I could use it far more economically when I could control what I paid for it by buying one version down of a full suite and keeping it longer. This forces everyone to the top of the line or a still-too-expensive limited product. This cuts out all the budget-conscious consumers in a very big way.

All consumers are now required to pay top line for newest product whether they need it or not and keep paying for every upgrade. Even less budget conscious consumers used to skip, say, every other upgrade.

@anartist – I just want to make sure, you know you can use your currently purchased software for as long as you want, correct? There just won’t be any upgrades to it. The license you bought is a “perpetual” license. No one is forced to upgrade to the cloud versions of any of the software.

There are a lot of people who found a version of Photoshop that works from them and never upgraded after that. The basic features have been the same for a long time.

@funkdaddy hah! They can deactivate it when they decide to stop servicing it.

I don’t think there is anything in the license agreement about them not being able to do such.

@anartist – no, they can’t, if we’re talking about the same thing.

When you purchase a boxed copy that license is yours for two computers. You can use it as long as it’s installed on those two computers.

If you have to uninstall, just deactivate it for another computer.That may end at some point, at least with Adobe’s approval. There are ways around that too though.

I don’t believe the boxed software, once activated, even checks in and you definitely don’t need an internet connection to use it.

No one will deactivate what you’ve paid for.

@funkdaddy you are wrong on calling home. It does. I know.
And in some design-oriented groups, the idea of pulling the plug on activations has been seriously discussed, and the Adobe reps in the group did not naysay it.

The activation connects in order to verify everything. After that, it seems older versions may just “check in” to a server. (other than the cloud stuff). This doesn’t affect using the software, I believe it was @johnpowell who was showing a screenshot of little snitch in a previous question. You can block it.

Adobe is still allowing for, and supporting, installs of CS2 on their forums, that package came out 7–8 years ago. I don’t see any reason they would end support for newer versions sooner.

I feel like I’m in a defensive position here for passing along information, so I’ll let this be. I just didn’t want you to get rid of your current software through some sort of misunderstanding. I’d encourage you to research the options available.

Good luck.