Hard software is software you own for life. Cloud software you never own. Which means you have no control. If you do not have an internet connection, you have nothing. CS6 was the last hardware Adobe produced. It does not work properly with 4k monitors and is no longer supported by Adobe, Adobe's only hard software is Elements. The buyers of this rental software are lemmings and Adobe is taking advantage of them, i.e. charging 600.00 a year, manditorily requiring renewal yearly, vrs a one time 2,599.00 outlay. The CS6 customers are out in the cold now, unless they throw out 600.00 a year, or continue to use CS6 until it will no longer work on then next OS upgrade. This is off topic, other than to say, "Business" must make more money off the customer base, to survive, and Apple is no different in this aspect. The R & D for the trash can design has never paid for itself and the Imac now fits the current customer base, and future direction, whether you like it or not.
You are leaving out quite a lot. First, though, is a misconception you have - that of "owning software." In point-of-fact, you never own any of the software, you simply have been granted a license to use the software in a manner set forth by that license agreement. SO, whether you pay a HUGE fee for a perpetual license for that version of a single piece of software (which may not take into account any upgrades), or, you pay a smaller fee for a license that INCLUDES pretty much every other piece of software they make, is up to you. I'm sure they did some market analysis and found that most people use quite a few of their tools and figured out a way to satisfy both customers and Adobe's needs.
The software does run for 30 days past an interrupted internet connection.
Now, the problem with this model is that it presumes a perpetual income stream on the part of the end user, and makes only a modest attempt at alleviating a disrupted stream. That I don't like and would much prefer that things would continue to work until the "monthly fee" could be resumed - that would be fairest (providing the end user wasn't a jerk that wanted to crap on Adobe).
Counterpoint: If it weren't for that low monthly fee (and low yearly cost), I simply couldn't use Adobe's tools and wouldn't have developed the skills I do have as a result. So, in my case, this is very helpful. And I do use quite a few of their tools, which, at a single-fee perpetual license would set me back thousands per year to stay current.
Yes, businesses do need to have an income stream to survive. Costs have risen, spending money has gone down, and what better way to decrease costs to customers yet increase the volume substantially than to offer an affordable subscription. In the end, this will keep the business going far better than a smaller customer base paying a lot more for less product.
I may not like the subscription model (my income stream isn't constant unfortunately), but I see the sense in it.
. Once again, the most interesting stuff was what I mentioned above
