Adobe Launches CS6 this Week
On the heels of the heavily anticipated release of CS5, Adobe has announced the release of CS6, which takes the advances of CS5 and pushes the limits of what is possible with today’s hardware and software platforms. Copies of CS6 hit stores this week and was made available for download this past Monday. Both Adobe and Apple have sung praises over the latest release of the creative suite, saying that creatives today cannot hope to advance as professionals without the groundbreaking suite, and that this latest platform is a must-have for creative work in the 21st century. Only macs that have been released in the past 6 months are capable of running the new software, so many designers and creative artists will need to upgrade.
Of course, this opening paragraph is fabricated. But I wanted to illustrate how I feel lately about the current trend of Adobe releasing a new creative suite every 12-18 months, requiring me to sometimes not only update my software at $800+ a pop, but also sometimes necessitating upgrades to my mac, or a new mac entirely.
The release of CS5 signals a fork in the road for me. I will need to buy a new mac and operating system in order to keep up with the current trend. I do operate in a creative field, which means that I also have to keep up appearances. This requires an endless cycle of updating my retro sneakers, slim-fit pants, tight-fitting polo shirts with big collars, mirrored Ray-Bans, clever screenprinted messenger bags, designery big-ass watches, the latest ironic haircuts, and big pretty macs with bigger, prettier screens to impress upon your clients your inherent creativity and uncanny ability to keep your finger on the pulse of designer culture.
Well, the big secret is that I’m not cool. I’m a dad that lives in a quiet, perfectly boring neighborhood that I love. I mow the lawn on Saturdays. I cook macaroni & cheese and make peanut butter sandwiches for my son. One of my favorite objects is my demolition pry bar. I ride a cheap, bone-stock mountain bike. I get my hair cut at a mall. I don’t buy clothes. I just wear what people buy me. And I don’t make a lot of money, so I carry a messenger bag that was given to me in 2003 by a rep from a national salon product company. I use paper and pen. I don’t like iPhones, iPods, or iPads. I don’t need them and I find they are time wasters. They also become smudgy pieces of shit after 5 minutes of use. Do you know how ridiculous you look when you’re constantly wiping that screen? I’m wondering how many OCDs have been launched with the release of these things. I’d like to make an iPhone clone that has only one thing displayed on the screen: GO OUTSIDE.
And now, I’m seriously contemplating using a PC to do my work. Hold on, I hear a knock at the door…
…I’m back, my license has just been revoked by the creative police.
To be honest Steve Jobs, I bought this mac a few years ago, and now it’s pretty much useless, unless I need a new file server, which I don’t. My first mac lasted close to 8 years, and this one lasted 4. I can do the math. If I could go Linux, I would have.
BIG SECRET #2: I used PhotoShop 6 and InDesign 1.5 the other day to work on a project. Why? to prove that my work was just as good on the old platform (using OS9, which screamed by the way.) The lesson here is that Adobe and Apple are just tools that I use to get my ideas out. They are not necessities. They are merely tools. The only thing you need to cultivate your creativity is a brain that is capable of producing creative thoughts and a method to translate your inner world to the outer world. And I’m getting tired of spending thousands every year or two on new tools when the old ones worked just fine. If I go Windows, at least I can keep my box for several years and when I need to upgrade I can do it for a fraction of the cost.
What I’d really like to see is some big agency declare that enough is enough. I want the creative field to demand more than just some upgraded brush patterns for $800. I’m taking a stand. Is there anyone else that feels this way?
Category: EnoughAlready, Uncategorized, adobe, cs6, design, slowdown, software 6 comments »
July 29th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I love this rant. I’ve felt adobe’s unnecessary updates have effected a lot in this industry.
Here’s an idea, let’s take all of our related design programs, group them together, put them in a “suite” and always release them at the same time.
It doesn’t matter how many changes or “improvements” we’ve made to them especially the ones that have been around for years (ie: illustrator and photoshop) and with those we’ll just change the way they look, move around some tool palettes and CALL them improvements. But we’ll CHARGE a but load for all of them, as if they’re ALL BRAND NEW! What a great idea right? Oh and we’ll make it a little painful for people who bought our stuff before and tell them their old versions are getting out of date, or new users have to save down to work with them. I understand companies need to make money and come out with new products, but to virtually come out with the same thing over and over and over again and call it new, and sell it as if it was new is a crock. Wake up and smell it Adobe, because EVERYONE ELSE IS!
July 29th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Thumbs up, Gregory.
I know there are people out there who say, “Well, if you’re a real professional, you’ll not only have up-to-date full-blown copies, you’ll have the latest everything in order to provide your clients with the most current work and the greatest possible technology.” But the thing is, if you’re someone who has been laid off recently and you’re trying to get your small business off the ground, you don’t always have a couple of grand in liquid assets to drop on this stuff every 12 months. It’s just that simple. Also, I think there is merit in the idea that you can do great work using anything. I mean, have you seen the guy that does awesome paintings using Excel?!?!? And to tell you the truth, I don’t have a problem with working with older software, because it does pretty much what I need it to (much to Adobe’s credit—I mean they pretty much nailed it with PhotoShop 6 and Illustrator 8, congrats! You guys were way ahead of the curve!) But now I feel like I’m still paying through the nose for what I consider minor improvements that might make incremental strides towards improving efficiency and speed. But $800 every time to upgrade? Really?
July 31st, 2010 at 11:41 am
Hi Jeff, we met at Ron and Natalie’s a while back. I enjoyed your post. I do wonder how necessary it is to keep upgrading hardware/software at such a fast rate. I’m not a professional designer but I have an old copy of Photoshop CS (as in CS-zero) which does (almost) everything I need.
What I need in the Mac is the Unix stuff under the hood, since I am a developer. Also SketchUp, though I could go Windows for that (yuck). I, too, really wish I could run Linux (other than in virtualization — ironically, some of my linux stuff runs faster in virtualization than it does natively on the Mac), but the graphics programs just aren’t there compared to Win/Mac.
I do enjoy the pretty kool-aide that Apple has poured for all of us, but I think it’s important to keep control of one’s own computing destiny and not jump through corporate hoops at the slightest enticement. So I’m all in favor of your experiment in using old software to do good stuff. (Sometimes the old stuff is better, too — I have an old HP LaserJet 6MP, my second or third, which is an incredible workhorse and which is the only printer I trust for the kind of transfer artwork I do.)
Cheers,
John
July 31st, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Hey John!
Good to hear from you.
Yeah, the Unix stuff is great for a developer. Although I don’t know a ton about developing, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. I believe it’s possible to run Adobe through emulation or virtualization when running Linux, but at that point, you might as well run it on the intended platform.
I think I would still be totally happy with CS, because of layer adjustments. I guess I feel that Adobe should reward customers that have paid for several versions of their software over the years, and at least give them a bit of a discount in a brief fit of honesty (Uh, sorry, all we could come up with new in this version is a new tabbed interface and enhanced run times for 64-bit processors!) in order to keep those loyal customers happy. But with no real viable alternative yet, why should they care?
Time will tell, my friend. Time will tell.
August 26th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Hello, I agree with your statements and ideas regarding the unnecesary updates in the suites for the profit of the big companies. In fact, I remember I squeezed all the lime juice out of Adobe Pagemaker 6.51 and even nowadays I bet many small and medium companies would like to have such a small, fast and professional tool in their arsenal. A few months ago I installed Ubuntu Linux in a Xeon box and I installed the latest version of Wine; and guess what: Pagemaker 6.51 was back in the game with the Wine emulator. Long story short, I agree that the ideas are in your brain, and the box (MAC or PC) are just tools like a pen and a notepad or an airbrush. Any ideas why Adobe has never, ever released their suites for Linux? it would be good to have at least CS2 or CS3 suite on Ubuntu Linux running natively.
Thanks.
August 26th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
I certainly don’t think you NEED to upgrade – that work you did last year was still good work, so keep on doing it and being creative.
BUT, come on, it’s more than a few brush patterns (especially since you should be making your won brush patterns if you find old ones inadequate, or borrowing someone else’s). The 3D stuff, both the repousse in Photoshop and the 3D planes in Illustrator really save me time creating and makes me more effective for my clients. I love it. Fast, attractive elements so I can move on to thinking up what to make next.
Like you said, it’s just a tool, and a hammer from last year works as well as a hammer from next year and one from years ago. But there are also new tools, and they are useful. You don’t need to buy it (and having things save to an unopenable version is reallllly annoying, since not everyone should have to upgrade just because that one jerk supplying the logo did). Think of it this way – you’re not buying a new hammer, you’re buying a whole different tool kit that also has a hammer in it.