Adobe! They call it the Creative Cloud - So What Now?

This week as many may have heard, Adobe announced its shift to what they call the new and groovy Creative Cloud.

Forget about the CS Suites altogether! They will soon be history as far as Adobe is concerned. The headlines have read along these lines just to name a few:

• Is Adobe a Buy? (Financial Reporting)

• Adobe Just Killed Your Ability To Pirate Photoshop (some Blog named RW for ReWrite)

• 5 Cool Features in Adobe Creative Cloud (PC Mag)

• And my version - What the hell? Why can't Adobe explain things more clearly and remove the confusion? (Unfortunately this is not a link to any answers either.)

The big question really is; has Adobe made a suicidal or a totally genius maneuver? That is the billion dollar question. And why can PC Mag only come up with 5 cool features? Simply because they might not really (as has been for a long time) understand the reality of this situation. Who knows. I haven't read PC Mag for years now or basically ever since their reviews and articles were always swayed towards the guy advertising on the same pages of the article. I digress. 

I suppose the humorous one is the pirating one. I never had to worry about that as I always paid for full licenses. In regards to the financial reports, well, that's another story altogether. 

Back to the license thing. I really don't care what moron wrote this or why they came up with such a title. The key thing is, if that is the number one concern, then you shouldn't even be in any business that involves creating cool stuff. If you infringe on copyright by pirating software, you should be bitch slapped at the very least! 

Why? You ask? You dare ask? If this is even a question, then get out now! Go do something else as a career. Something where the mundane will run your life. 

For all of us out here creating goodies, visual eye-candy and so much more, we should never question having to pay for the right to use some software. Actually I insist on it as I would expect the same in return when someone uses some of my created goodies. Whether it is a project from After Effects, a photo, or my favorite, stock footage, I am a firm believer that this needs to be paid for! In turn, I am a firm believer that I must also pay for the rights to software that allows me to create this stuff. 

Over the years I have had many offer me "free" or pirated software of a variety of applications. I always rejected such offers for several reasons:

1. I always would respond with; "I really don't want any trojans installed on my system. These f&&cking download places always have crap like that going on."
2. I really prefer to get support from a company and not feel guilty about it. 
3. I simply hate to feel guilty about STEALING something from someone I have never even met! Yes! The conscious is kicking me into being rightful and proper on this issue. 

Now, back to Adobe and their Creative Cloud. Will it be a successful or as successful as Adobe hopes it to be? Only time will tell. There are two sides to every story. And this one has strong proponents on both sides. 

But there is one major problem that Adobe has yet to solve. They simply can't or are lost in translation. They puffed up their now crappy site with CC this, CC that and so on... but nowhere (and don't even get me started on the pretty useless faqs...) do they in simple explanation talk about the technical functionality of the system. For example, why can't they in big bold letters state that you don't have to be online 24/7 to use the products? 

Or better yet, why not explain in plain English that the so-called "Cloud" is not really a cloud, and it doesn't produce rain. Adobe! Pay attention! You really screwed up in your messaging! You seem to forget that artists, designers and producers are not all super-tech savvy nor do they full comprehend that damn "cloud" thingy. 

Go back to basics Adobe.... pretend that no one understands the concept and start from there. Spoon feed if you have to, but damn it do something. I am losing my ass on the stock market because you can't market or speak human!

We have the financial community, the stock market if you will, that is reacting in real-time to the announcement. Hence, they seem to be bullish on the whole idea. The stock is tanking slowly over the last few days since the announcement. See for yourself:

Source: Yahoo Finance - The day of this post.

We have the bloggers, the Facebookers, the.... ah who cares? They all have opinions. 

But here is what I have found to be true:

• Anyone that has been using this concept (yes, it's been available for quite some time now) really loves it. 
• Anyone that has not been using this concept is either weary, unsure, or somehow delusional in regards to its capabilities. I was one of these until I chilled and watched the replay of the MAX keynote presentation. 
• I admit, I think Adobe is on to something. Something bigger than we could have expected. After all, I was expecting Adobe CS7, not Adobe CC.
• As far as the doubters on Wall Street, you know, the guys that want fast money by investing... well, most of these people haven't a clue about creativity nor do they have a creative bone in their body. They only know that they are in the market for a fast buck. And therein lies the problem. Hell, most of them don't even know what Adobe does. They just purchased the stock because it had a nice upward line/pattern:

Source Yahoo Finance - Look at it rise!

I would venture to guess that there are many shorting this stock today. Perhaps the competition, perhaps the "sheeple" day trader, perhaps the general non-creative investor. We'll see how it comes out next month when Adobe actually throws the switch. (June 17th I believe)

In any case - before judging this new delivery of software system, perhaps it would be wise to see and understand all the potential. I was quick to jump and be negative about it initially too. But in retrospect, as this will be the only option should I wish to continue using Adobe products, I am somewhat forced to like it. Actually, there are some really cool things coming down the pike, provided Adobe comes through with them. But re-read the bold and underlined type above... it is a somewhat forced process. I hate being forced, except when it come to ice cream. 

Oh! And by the way - I do think their Creative Cloud artwork is pretty cool:

The Creative Cloud Artwork - I am sure this is copyright protected by Adobe.  So respectfully I am not using it for self promotion, but purely in the journalistic sense.