Multi-decade professionals leaving Adobe

[Andrew Smith]

Tripped across this video which, whilst it's almost 19 minutes long, didn't feel like a burden to watch and listen to at all.

Leaving Adobe (a long time coming) - YouTube

This guy (and his businesses) have been with Adobe for decades with both print and video software. There had always been pain points with Adobe since they went down the 'rental' route, but the addition or rather enshittification of the software via utterly intrusive AI tools and prompts that you can't even turn off got to be too much.

Turns out there's a heap of videos about people leaving Adobe and indeed this has been happening for some time. Yes, but this bit at the end really summed it up on a very primal level.

I'm just tired of the bullshit. I'm tired of software companies, auto manufacturer's, tech platforms, and even our government just encroaching further and further and further in to my privacy to my agency.

I am not looking for a life of consumption and comfort. Yes, I like to consume, and yes, I like to be comfortable, but I don't mind a creative struggle. And I enjoy driving from point A to B with a modicum of freedom. And I don't need the government telling me what I can and can't eat and when I can go outside and when I may not go outside and whether my work is essential or not. I'm just really weary some of all this.

And so in my small way, this is me saying enough, Adobe, you've crossed the line. You kept intruding and insisting and being inconsiderate. And this consumer, this long time, 40 year, four decade faithful user of your products has said, you know what? Get bent. I'm done with you. You're out.

And it's a great thing to not be on the latest version of the Adobe software!

Andrew

[Paul R Johnson]

Ive no idea what theyre on about? Im very happy wit( my subscription, and just spent money on the computer to be able to update premier? The only issue i have is adobe muse, which i really liked and cannot find something the same! I have available other software for audio and video, but dont find the AI suggestion boxes that appear annoying, in fact, i sometimes even use them? In the video, he seems very stressed and wound up. The only concern i have to a degree is that clearly what we do with the products is constantly reported to adobe, but i become calm with alexa, and the idea it listens to my conversations and facebook give me targeted ads doesnt worry me any more. After an evening with a friend, im deluged with ads for colostomy bags, which is quite funny. Adobe is just run by young people who like this sort of stuff. I dont get annoyed, but i guess this guy does!

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Andrew Smith

Tripped across this video which, whilst it's almost 19 minutes long, didn't feel like a burden to watch and listen to at all.
Andrew

It's just click bait.

I watched this guy's boring very repetitive video and I have no idea what he is talking about. What are his specific beefs with the Adobe suite??? I use the latest edition of Adobe suite pretty much on a daily basis (primarily Photoshop and Premiere) and my experience doesn't match his at all. I can honestly say I have never used any Adobe AI feature . . . ever . . . on purpose or on accident. I'm totally serious. I have never experienced Photoshop or Premiere attempting to force my hand or doing things without me doing it myself.

Seriously, what the hell is he talking about????? I think he just has some kind of grudge against Adobe.

His comments in the second half about Adobe Stock have nothing to do with his own user experience because he's not even an Adobe Stock contributor -- so he has no standing. He's complaining about something that doesn't even affect him. It'd be like me complaining about the instrument cluster in a 747. I am not a pilot and I don't fly jets, so why would I care? I am, however, an Adobe Stock contributor who makes hundreds of dollars per month from Adobe and I have no complaints at all about their business model. This guy is a moron.

If he wants to identify the real problem, he should go look in the mirror. Oh, but that won't get him clicks.

Even if he can "crack the code" of Resolve (whatever the hell that means) I think he'll come crawling back to Adobe because he might be able to avoid using Premiere, but there are no professional alternatives for a lot of the Adobe Suite. Grow up.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Andrew Smith

And it's a great thing to not be on the latest version of the Adobe software!
Andrew

If you are a professional, who values their time, you are delusional if you think you are better off using older software. I'll also bet you could save a lot of money on petrol if you rode a horse. Or better yet, why waste money on horse feed, just walk everywhere. Technology sucks!

[Christopher Young]

As others have pointed out.

Basically, any asset that uses Adobe's cloud storage would be available for AI learning, unless a user opts-out of the service. The problem is if you are sharing libraries with co-workers on a project, any one of them could be exposing your protected IP to Adobe's AI if they haven't opted out. If I am using Lightroom Mobile and do not opt out of the auto-upload feature, all of my images could be accessed by Adobe's AI without my knowledge.

IMHO this is just one Big Brother step too far... by a long shot. This doesn't worry me greatly from a personal POV as I have long ditched working with Adobe products. For every Adobe product out there there are perfectly good alternatives for probably 90% of the creative community. Sure, no Adobe Link, but not all of us need that integration. And even if I did, I would not use Adobe for many reasons. One I have outlined above.

Chris Young

[Paul R Johnson]

My understanding of the process is that you are allowing analysis to enhance learning. To me, this means that its just a much quicker way of doing what we have always done. Somebody might go to college, make use of their library, and see wonderful stuff in our field. In my case, it wasn't art, it was lighting. Two lighting designers and i bought every book they produced. I used so much of the stuff in their photographs ovr the years. I stole many of my ideas from them. Later in my career i met both and became good friends with one. He was very pleased i found his ideas good enough. I never took whole designs, but just key elements and that i think, is how the AI system is growing.

The few times i have used the AI feature in photoshop, its 50/50 on its success. I rarely use stock images, preferring to avoid ideas that would require it. However, typing in empty beach, blue sky with setting sun and palm trees saves me work. If the beach was the foreground from Tom’s picture of an aircraft, the palm trees the very edge of Dick’s fashion shoot, and the sun a bit of an image from Harry’s expensive egyptian advertising shoot, does that impact on them in any tangible way. AI is just the instant alternative to going to library. AI has to examine how separate elements homogenise into a complex image both technically and artistically. Ive tried a few reverse image searches on bits of AI images and none have an absolute match.

I rather like the notion that perhaps a few of my ideas are now in somebody else’s product.

Its similar to when you get the weekly stats from Shazzam. You suddenly see that a piece of your music is being listened to and shazzamed in the Ukraine. There is a war on, yet somebody was listening to your music, and took the time to find out what is was? Probably earned me $0.00234 cents.


I don’t use AI much, but once it starts to save me time and money, I'm sure i will. Once video AI is available, i can think of those times where you need to insert moving pics into a monitor screen or where some moving texture would be nice in a shaft of window light.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

The only issue i have is adobe muse, which i really liked and cannot find something the same! !

Paul, I was in the same boat about finding a replacement for Muse until a friend suggested Sparkle. I bought the Pro version last month and love it. It is so much easier to use and far more powerful than Muse. Everything is WYSIWYG and easy to understand. I finally updated a couple of my websites that had been neglected far too long. https://www.vortexmedia.com/

Now I can understand why Adobe threw in the towel on Muse and decided not to even compete in that space anymore. Sparkle reminds me a lot of Keynote, which I am also a huge fan of.

https://sparkleapp.com/store/

[Andrew Smith]

Originally Posted by Doug Jensen

If you are a professional, who values their time, you are delusional if you think you are better off using older software. I'll also bet you could save a lot of money on petrol if you rode a horse. Or better yet, why waste money on horse feed, just walk everywhere. Technology sucks!

I've got Davinci Resolve installed and ready to go.

Andrew

[Doug Jensen]

Resolve is a great program and I've been using it several times a week for more than 10 years. But it doesn't replace the Adobe suite.

[Paul R Johnson]

Originally Posted by Doug Jensen

Paul, I was in the same boat about finding a replacement for Muse until a friend suggested Sparkle. I bought the Pro version last month and love it. It is so much easier to use and far more powerful than Muse. Everything is WYSIWYG and easy to understand. I finally updated a couple of my websites that had been neglected far too long. https://www.vortexmedia.com/

Now I can understand why Adobe threw in the towel on Muse and decided not to even compete in that space anymore. Sparkle reminds me a lot of Keynote, which I am also a huge fan of.

https://sparkleapp.com/store/

Doug - thanks for this, I will investigate. All the others so far have been non-starters for me. Cheers!

[Doug Jensen]

Paul, I was wondering if you had the chance to try Sparkle, and if so, what you think of it.

[Paul R Johnson]

I downloaded it Doug, and i know it will actually work for me, the trial ran out before i had the time to play, BUT, i was impressed it read one of my sites and that will save loads of time. Im positive i can use it, so i will buy it, as soon as this crazy time has passed. I’ve had the busiest time for months. Im not moaning, but i have never had so many jobs come in at the same time. Always the same when you are on a trial. As soon as i need to make a major update, i will buy it and skip the trial stage. Nothing i have tried before felt ok, like sparkle does! Thanks for the push!

[Doug Jensen]

When it rains it pours. Be glad for the busy times!

[Andrew Smith]

Clearly trial periods are good for business! :-)

Andrew