I’m a creative. I’ve used InDesign since version 1.0. I’ve built my career with Adobe tools.
Adobe Creative Cloud peaked around ten years ago. Since then, it’s totally jumped the shark. I’m not even talking about the company, just the software and its features.
When I open InDesign, Photoshop, or Illustrator I’m trying to work. It’s software I’ve used for, in some cases, 25 years. My point is, I know it inside and out.
The past few years, every new “feature” gets in the way of my work. Adobe has been changing things that already worked very well, or has added extra steps to do something that used to be easy.
Even worse, Adobe has started to fill its software with notifications that can not be disabled. Invasive blue dots. Invasive blue buttons. Invasive blue overlays that stay visible on the screen even when the software is minimized. Rich tool tips that aren’t disabled by the option to disable rich tool tips.
Adobe has lost me as a devotee. It’s been taken over by venture capital. The company only cares about adoption of new features.
Now, I use it out habit. Because my workplace provides it. Because it’s what folks on my team are used to… but because they’ve come to the ecosystem so late, they only know a fraction of its capabilities.
If Adobe faces demise, I will mourn what if once was. But not what it has become.
Been using Photoshop since 3.0 released on windows. I knew when they went cloud that shit was going sideways, but it was the acquisition of substance painter that did them in for me. Even though CC was kind of a mess, instead of building on the value proposition and including substance, they decided to have it as a separate charge.
“Fuck Adobe” is my near-daily mantra. I actually utter it out loud at least once a day, if not more. I used to teach PS and worshipped at the temple of PS. These days, FUCK ADOBE!!! I cannot wait for ANYTHING to replace Photoshop/Adobe. Adobe MUST die!.
A software giant like that can only go two directions:
suck the installed base tit for paychecks while cutting costs as much as possible
grow, innovate, expand
They are still trying to be 2 when a lot of people would like them to be 1, and they have to show new feature adoption statistics to prove that all their expensive employees are still worth paying.
Both of them can grow profits, which is what’s demanded. Yes, investor demand for constant growth is the pressure that causes it, but the dichotomy is all too real.
I’m a creative. I’ve used InDesign since version 1.0. I’ve built my career with Adobe tools.
Adobe Creative Cloud peaked around ten years ago. Since then, it’s totally jumped the shark. I’m not even talking about the company, just the software and its features.
When I open InDesign, Photoshop, or Illustrator I’m trying to work. It’s software I’ve used for, in some cases, 25 years. My point is, I know it inside and out.
The past few years, every new “feature” gets in the way of my work. Adobe has been changing things that already worked very well, or has added extra steps to do something that used to be easy.
Even worse, Adobe has started to fill its software with notifications that can not be disabled. Invasive blue dots. Invasive blue buttons. Invasive blue overlays that stay visible on the screen even when the software is minimized. Rich tool tips that aren’t disabled by the option to disable rich tool tips.
Adobe has lost me as a devotee. It’s been taken over by venture capital. The company only cares about adoption of new features.
Now, I use it out habit. Because my workplace provides it. Because it’s what folks on my team are used to… but because they’ve come to the ecosystem so late, they only know a fraction of its capabilities.
If Adobe faces demise, I will mourn what if once was. But not what it has become.
Been using Photoshop since 3.0 released on windows. I knew when they went cloud that shit was going sideways, but it was the acquisition of substance painter that did them in for me. Even though CC was kind of a mess, instead of building on the value proposition and including substance, they decided to have it as a separate charge.
Fuck adobe. Fuck subscription software.
“Fuck Adobe” is my near-daily mantra. I actually utter it out loud at least once a day, if not more. I used to teach PS and worshipped at the temple of PS. These days, FUCK ADOBE!!! I cannot wait for ANYTHING to replace Photoshop/Adobe. Adobe MUST die!.
Consider supporting ArmorPaint. It’s not a full Substance replacement yet, but it’s affordable and evolving well.
yeah I haven’t spent any time with it for about a year, it’s time to circle back. Thanks for the reminder.
We can always use older versions. I stayed in cs6 until I migrated full FOSS
Not if it’s for work, generally speaking.
Interesting to read. Since I never used Adobe products much (aside from PDF) I can only notice the parallels: it’s not only there.
It’s everywhere.
Even excel is a hot mess when doing basic things like scrolling and it redraws a. Simple worksheet. Everything has degraded to total inefficiency.
A software giant like that can only go two directions:
They are still trying to be 2 when a lot of people would like them to be 1, and they have to show new feature adoption statistics to prove that all their expensive employees are still worth paying.
See, that’s a false dichotomy.
Modern corporate America demands expansion and growth. But expansion and growth do not need to be required for innovation.
That’s where Adobe is a victim of the vulture capitalists who’ve taken it over.
Both of them can grow profits, which is what’s demanded. Yes, investor demand for constant growth is the pressure that causes it, but the dichotomy is all too real.