E36: Adobe is Legacy Software. What Does The Future Look Like?

Author: Tim Mcburnie
Published: Wed 26 Jun 2024
Episode Link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/c222a579

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This is The Thirty Sixth Episode of the Visual Scholar Podcast - With Tim Mcburnie.

Let's talk Adobe...

There is a lot of drama and outrage aimed at Adobe. I normally stay away from this stuff on the Visual Scholar... But people often ask for my opinion as I do use Adobe products, and teach people how to use them.

So this episode is dedicated to my thoughts on the future of Photoshop. But as you know if you have been following this show, it won't be simple, and I will weave in some more interesting topics.

I want to walk though:

1 What we should expect from Software as artists 2 What can we learn by looking closer at Adobe Inc 3 What Ethics, Morality, Publicly traded companies... and AI say about the future of Customer/Product Symbiosis.

So yeah... This is a long form essay. That no one really asked for. But if you want to rise above the noise and outrage FUD... strap in!

CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:03 Welcome

00:03:28 What's My Take On This?

00:07:07 What Good Creative Software Needs To Be... The Dangers of Switching

00:08:45 That Time I Gave Up Photoshop For Corel Painter...

00:14:56 Reliability...

00:15:33 Learning & Community

00:16:55 Different Artists Need Different Features... Pro Vs The Rest

00:19:06 Professional Features (That Most People Don't Care About)

00:20:06 Production Integration

00:21:16 Chameleon: Photoshop Can Be Many Things

00:23:27 Extensibility

00:26:51 Real Professional Reliability

00:30:03 Speeed

00:32:03 TLDR: Bugs And Tech Hurdles Can Ruin Your Art Flow

00:33:11 What About Adobe As A Company (Evil INC)

00:33:50 The History... Aggressive Monopoly

00:35:22 Adobe The Dinosaur (Legacy Software and Legacy Attitude)

00:38:19 Adobe Is Struggling To Be A Modern SAAS Company

00:39:15 Publicly Traded Companies Can't Take Care Of Their Customers.

00:39:58 The Silicon Valley Hype Cycle

00:41:17 Symbiosis: How Good Software Is Made

00:43:24 The Protopian Ideal

00:44:58 Incentives: It's Not A Matter of Good Or Evil.

00:50:37 What Does The Future Of Software Look Like?

00:52:51 The Community Matters

00:53:58 The Photoshop Interface Built Adobe

00:55:06 Piracy Helped Build The Monopoly

00:56:00 No Free Version = No One Uses It... Or Cares.

00:58:57 Adobe In Trouble?

01:02:40 Has Adobe Forgotten How To Make And Promote Software?

01:03:32 The Street Price Of Creative Cloud

01:05:58 Adobe Actually Has A Great Deal...

01:09:10 The Traps Large Companies Fall Into

01:10:58 Business Models And Functionality Are Linked!

01:14:03 Photoshop IS Unique

01:17:34 The Real Issue? (AI)

01:19:25 The Hype Train

01:22:11 If AGI and Superintelligence Are Coming... Why Is Adobe Putting AI In Photoshop

01:24:51 The Double Speak Of Generative Imagery and LLMs

01:25:59 The Real Reason I Want OFF The Adobe Train Now

01:29:17 Takeaways!

01:30:14 The Analytical Takeaway

01:35:15 Marker 3

01:35:26 The practical Takeaway

01:37:27 The Philosophical Takeaway

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The Visual Scholar Podcast is designed to help you demystify the world of Art, Productivity, and Creativity. So you can get better faster, and enjoy your Art Journey.

We discuss Drawing, Painting, Illustration and Entertainment Design. Along with Productivity and Career Advice.

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https://visualscholar.mightyartisan.com

Where To Find More About Tim Mcburnie:

Learn Drawing and Illustration at The Drawing Codex:

www.thedrawingcodex.com

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www.mightyartisan.com