Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen says within 10 years, the company will be offering all of its applications online. His remarks come at a time when we see more and more companies offering online applications as an alternative to desktop products.Google Docs, Zoho, Picnik, SnapLayout, Zude, just a few of the many successful online applications that can be accessed anywhere without the large cost of boxed versions. There might be some features missing, but this new breed of application has much to offer the user with free, portable, cross platform, accessible with no upgrades needed as a few of the benefits.
Major software development companies like Adobe are starting to take note and recognize their shrinking market share. The likes of Picnik and PikiFX are emerging and growing the free online image editing space and have forced Adobe to quickly rethink their software strategy pushing them to develop a version of their popular Photoshop for online usage. Adobe still has no release date for Photoshop Express but realizes that the future of software lies with online versions and is working to deliver all of their applications via the web.
Chizen says he believes that these new online applications will only appeal to a younger generation of users that would never think of paying $400 for a packaged software product. Dear Adobe, we think this will appeal to all users, young or old, just as long as they, along with the rest of the world will have access to broadband in 10 years. After all, what good is an online application if it can't be accessed properly?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-18-2007 @ 12:26PM
Brian McBride said...
Online apps sound great... to a point. I think the iPhone and AT&T can demonstrate how a crappy connection will destroy any hopes of using online apps in a business setting.
Simple things like a todo list are not effective online if you cannot quickly and easily access it. An application like Photoshop? How do I work on it when on a plane?
My guess is, in 10 years, there will still be connection reliability issues and applications will be available in download format to run offline.
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10-18-2007 @ 1:43PM
thesawzall said...
I'm sure since they're Adobe, they'll still find a way to make the licensing a complete PITA.
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10-18-2007 @ 1:43PM
Mikado said...
Right now, I pay a one-time fee and I have access to the application (and hence my data) essentially forever. If all apps move online, does that mean they move to a subscription payment model? And if I miss a payment, does that mean my data is now held hostage?
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10-18-2007 @ 1:51PM
Sam said...
Um...so what happens when your internet goes out or there's a storm and your power is out? What happens when your in a dead zone? Consumers want physical media and for something as powerful as PS, they want it in their hands and offline. Maybe if Adobe added full-fledged collaboration tools to help designers work together online, but still be able to have their projects to work with offline, that would make more sense.
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10-18-2007 @ 2:45PM
Ron said...
@Sam and @Brian
Take a look at Adobe AIR as well as AMP (Adobe Media Player).
I think the apps might be a combination of offline/online apps. But that's just a guess.
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10-18-2007 @ 6:05PM
james 42 said...
This is how the Borg started.
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10-19-2007 @ 3:02AM
Mark Steudel said...
I think businesses will still need to offer boxed versions for countries that lack reliable power and internet connections. There will be plenty of countries in 10 years or 100 years that won't have infrastructure to support online apps, but still need access to industry standard applications to be trained on.
I wonder if online apps will decrease the amount of software piracy. Of course as another commentor said, now all my data is online and suddenly a new target for hackers.
Anyway I'd rather have boxed versions.
Mark
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10-19-2007 @ 9:40AM
Rick Ludwig said...
Yeah, there's no way in HELL that I'm going to pay for using online software.
1) Web browsers crash more frequently than Photoshop
2) You don't have internet EVERYWHERE
3) That's got to be a HUGE bandwith sucker. Even at a big company, imagine people trying to use multiple online apps, even if it's just graphics people...
4) What happens when Adobe's servers go down?
...and the list goes on.
Personally, there are very few apps that make sense "online".
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