I wonder though if innovation might come from the competition that’s now out there. Adobe has inertia behind them, but really, there’s so much more competition on the photography software side of things than there’s ever been, certainly in the last 3-5 years. They should at least be looking over their shoulders, which I’d hope would spur innovation. Time will tell. Granted, they’re probably not sweating us hobbyists, but I literally don’t need or use Adobe for anything photography related, though I still have the suite through work. And I obviously still choose to subscribe to Capture One (though one can still purchase outright).I just wish they could find a middle ground on perpetual versus subscription. I think they have less incentive to innovate under a subscription model. It’s just like with MS Office. I think it puts the consumer at a disadvantage, as they own no license and subscription prices will only go up.
Adobe puts out really good stuff, and are some of the pioneers of digital image processing, but it’s a different world with solid choices if we want. Awesome.