To go Cloud or not?

So, my current software dilemma is the issue with updating my Adobe software. As painful as this usually is each time I finally break down and upgrade, it's even more so now. With the introduction of Adobe Cloud, I have to decide if it's worth it to purchase the final upgrade to my software or just skip it and begin subscribing to Cloud.

For those of you new to this idea (as I was myself until a few months ago - if that tells you how well I keep up with software updates) basically, Adobe has decided that rather than continue to upgrade their software for purchase, this latest version is going to be the last that us users can purchase. Now, we're going to have to subscribe to a monthly service to use their software. The benefits are that we'll always have continual access to the latest version without having to keep up with updates ourselves. The downfall is that instead of spending the big bucks once ever few years as we deem it necessary to upgrade, we'll have to pay approximately $50/month to use the programs. Now, I honestly have not done all the math yet to see how this works out for me. Depending on what you use and how much it costs you to purchase the software (or the upgrade) every however many years, you may come out ahead. But, it's just possible that if you can squeak by without upgrading EVERY TIME there's an upgrade and only purchase every few years, it may not come out in your favor.

Now granted, there are smaller packages you can get, but your access to the programs and support for them are limited, as you might expect. So, how do I feel about this new step? Not really sure yet... But, if I'm going to continue doing business in this field, I don't see that I've got much of a choice. I just hope they've made it fool-proof. I'm not keen on spending a lot of my (un-billable) time working out the kinks and figuring out how to access and work software that I've been using for years already because now I have to access it through an online service rather than having it on my computer.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes. I guess the good news is that although this is kind of "news" to me (since as I mentioned before I don't honestly keep up with "business news" like I should - hey, if it's working well, why mess with it?) Cloud is not brand new. So hopefully that means they've had time to work out the kinks. Although honestly I've read both good and bad reviews. But, I supposed that's how it's going to be with anything; can't make everyone happy.

The really frustrating thing about all this is: do I really even have a choice? I mean, honestly, what other programs are out there that are truly print-quality programs that work together as seamlessly as the Adobe Suite does? Not to mention the learning curve that would come with switching to a brand new software when I've been using Adobe since PageMaker was out? (Do you guys even remember PageMaker? Come on, I'm not that old!)