Enough is enough in the world of graphic software.

Back in the days when QuarkXPress still held the graphic design and advertising world in a firm grip, we were all complaining about the prices they charged for an update, or worse, buying the program anew. PageMaker had become obsolete, and we were all confined to Quark world, which gave us no option to choose a different software provider. On top of it all, the Quark service had hit rock bottom.

Then came InDesign, and eventually even the most adament of us Quark users slowly gave up and finally surrendered. It felt good to use three programs (InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop) made by the same company, Adobe. Programs that worked well together. So all should be fine and world peace and all of that?

Not really. Now running a monopoly in the world of graphic software, Adobe has increased their prices by packaging their software in new and clever ways (the Creative Suite, CS), and by gradually giving their brand a more exclusive and modern polish, we are made to believe we're paying a resonable price.

Just recently, The Creative Suite 4 was released, and Adobe charges the stunning €3 569 for the full version (InDesign itself costs €1 010). That's much more than I paid for my new MacBook Pro, including the extra memory I installed.

If you ask me, Adobe is slowly killing their brand, and their relations to the users, by charging a fortune for their software. Computer-literates already crack every new version that's released onto the market, and I'm convinced we'll see other brands taking market share within a few years.


Creative Suite 4 by Adobe.