oppositeoffaith asks: As someone worked in that industry I have ask-based on the price of R&D, Engineering, paying employees, infrastructure, online classes, a massive and frequently updated website, among other things…what should it cost?
» SFB says: Personal take — the cloud service needs a slightly-lower price to hit a sweet spot — say $10 cheaper. Most current users have a hard time seeing the benefit of a service that costs as much per year as an upgrade, which generally lasts two years, does. The student price ($29.99) is a great price point, and the introductory pricing for current users (also $29.99) helps — but after that first year, the benefit drops significantly. Access to the cloud hosting services — particularly Typekit — offer a great benefit as well, but that angle of the deal seems a little under-sold. An a la carte approach would be good too — for example, $12.99 a month for just Photoshop might be worth it for a lot of people, and a price at that level might curb Adobe's longstanding piracy problem. That said, many freelance types have always felt Creative Suite was a tad expensive, so the grumble is a tad long-standing. — Ernie @ SFB (EDIT to correct price of student package)