We have been hearing about ‘Clouds’ but have you ever heard about the ‘Creative Clouds’? Well, then you probably might be wondering what this means. In other words, the Creative Cloud is a membership Service introduced by Adobe systems, a multinational well-known software company who focuses upon creation of multimedia and creative software products. A digital Creative Cloud Service is the digital hub that lets you download and allow you to install any Adobe Creative suite 6 applications on your desktop. This means, the actual software is not hosted on the Cloud out there but you can download any Adobe softwares on your desktop from the Cloud. One can access, share, publish their work; collaborate and sink the original files from almost any digital devices such as desktop, ipad, mobile, etc.
I really got excited when I heard first time that Adobe is working on the beta version of Creative Cloud back in end of 2011. I heard about having the limited functionality but now with the full launch of Creative Cloud, Adobe is unveiling much bigger offerings to all of the CS6 desktop applications, along with the analytics, and TypeKit fonts.
Yet everything has its own pros and cons, this type of cloud service also has them. Read below my observations:
The Adobe Creative Cloud subscription allows users to use any of Adobe Creative Suite 6 app for a monthly rate of $49.99/month with a one year commitment (The introductory special offer as of today is $29.99/month) or month-to-month for $74.99. Also, if you are a student or need Creative team rates, Adobe is offering separate rates. I am interested in the Creative team rates as I manage the Creative team, which is $69.99/month on an annual contract. Now let’s do the math. Currently my team has been using Adobe 5.5 suite since it came out. We bought the old version of Adobe creative apps one time and upgraded the newer version twice within 6 years. As a result, we end up paying around $2000 for entire purchase and software upgrade. Now let’s compare with the Cloud Service. If I sign-up for a monthly service, this will cost me around $840/year. Then this will be a really expensive solution.
In addition, say if you decide to discontinue the Cloud Service and go back to old ways of owning/purchasing Adobe apps, then Adobe lets you download that current version free of charge, only for once. However the catch is, such downloads does not have any warranty or support or any kinds of updates will be provided. In my opinion I feel stuck here. This means that I will be forced to use that same version; I can’t update it to the next version. If I decide to purchase Adobe apps in future, then either I have to buy new apps (obviously it is an expensive solution) or start the cloud service again.
In this case, I would stick with the retail version; buy the traditional CD over using Cloud Service.
This subscription is great if you:
• Want to use all current features and updates as soon as it’s available. You don’t have to wait for the next release or until you buy the next version. Honestly, this is really exciting and powering.
• Want to use this service for a short run. If you wish to use the Creative app for a limited time or want to learn any Creative app or you are a student, then this will be a perfect solution for you. But it will cost you a lot if you are using this in a long run.
• Want to look cool in the crowd that you are using current technology.
If you ask me to sum it up, what I recommend? The answer would vary depending upon your individual goals or what you are trying to accomplish. Absolutely it will be a best deal if you want to use the service short-term. If you are one of them who do not want to spend lot of money up-front, if you just want to get acquainted with newer version, student, etc. On the other hand, if you are a creative professional or in any profession where you use Adobe apps every day, then it might be better off buying the DVD and own the apps. This is a matter of personal preference as buy a car or rent a car.
I would like to hear your thoughts as well. What would you prefer – lease a car or buy a car? Oops…Adobe Cloud Service vs. purchase Adobe Creative Suite?