Here We Go – Adobe “Tests” Price Increase

Reports have surfaced in the last couple of days that Adobe may soon be making a pricing change to its photography plan offerings.

Some country-specific sites have started seeing new pricing and new configurations of options, including subscribers in the United States.  It doesn’t appear that this “test” has been applied to the Canadian market.

Reading between the tea leaves is fairly easy:  in order to retain a $9.99 USD per month pricing, subscribers commit to web-enabled Lightroom CC, with 1TB of storage.  Classic desktop based versions of Lightroom and Photoshop are NOT included.

It’s the first step, as I reported previously, in a transition to cloud-based services and the same user experience across all devices that a user may own.  This transition, although wholly and completely driven by a profit model for Adobe, also recognizes that younger users have no interest in bulky laptops with processor and storage limitations.  A simple tablet is preferred.  And everything should be on the cloud, eliminating the need for them to safeguard work, while maximizing the opportunity to share it.  It’s actually a brilliant strategy for Adobe.

That they chose to release this next major move this way is a bit puzzling.  Again, though, basic psychological theory says that the best way to effect change is to introduce it slowly, get people used to it, then fully implement it.  It’s the boiling water experiment.  I guess Adobe has a “Chief Psychologist” on their strategy team.