I still remember loading up Adobe Photoshop and waiting for the ugly pixelated eyeball to go away. These were amazing times. We had Macromedia Flash, we had Dreamweaver, we had animated gifs and Coldfusion to drive our web experiences… and for image editing, Adobe redefined creativity…
Then in 2021 I finally tried escaping the matrix… moving over to opensource and single-pay options like DaVinci Resolve… only to realize that for 9 months I was still paying Adobe…
Adobe’s software was considered “a safe pair of hands that always worked.” However, a growing wave of user resentment, aggressive corporate strategies, and changing market dynamics have left the tech giant in a perilous position. Despite reporting a record-breaking $23.8 billion in revenue in 2025, Adobe’s stock price has plummeted by roughly 65% from its late-2021 peak…
I can tell you EXACTLY why Adobe is cooked.
From Ownership to “Technofeudalism”
The root of the current backlash dates back to 2013, when Adobe made a fundamental change to its business model. They announced that Creative Suite 6 would be the last version you could buy outright. Before this, a designer could purchase the complete “Master Collection” for around $2,600 and own it forever… BS!
By forcing users into the Creative Cloud subscription model, Adobe transitioned its customers from owners to renters. Today, the full suite costs up to $70 a month. Over a 40-year career, factoring in inevitable price hikes, a single user could pay anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000 just for the tools needed to do their job…
To make matters worse, Adobe utilized “dark patterns” designed to trick or wear down the consumer. Canceling a subscription meant navigating a frustrating labyrinth of menus, prompts, and missing buttons. This behavior eventually caught the attention of the US government. In 2024, the Department of Justice and the FTC sued Adobe, resulting in a $150 million settlement over their hidden fees and painful cancellation processes. I actually felt like I should be entitled to that money. No cap.
But here is the reality…
AI WILL EAT THE WORLD
Forget the Figma failure of a $20B acquisition only to get blocked and scrap the deal and pay $1B termination fee. Forget the tons of free alternatives like Canva (acquired by Affinity) or DaVinci which crushes Premiere Pro… ai will eat all of it anyway.
Everything Adobe sells I can do with agents for free.
I have already built 60+ custom tools I used to pay subscriptions for. My ai agents can learn it:
No more Miro - I built my own whiteboard for clients for free
No more video streaming - My agents found alt-servers that provide me the video entertainment I need
No more video editing costs - My agents learned DaVinci
No more audio capture/edit/transform/clone/voice++++ - My agents use powerful local models to do it
(Many) of my web tools for db, arch, git, api, etc are free - My agents find free tools that work perfectly before moving to prod environments
Chrome extensions galore! - Agents can build browser extensions to shortcut pretty much anything
Social media automation - Please. If you’re paying anything for anything social media, branding, marketing… agents can do it all
Business consulting admin/management/operations - I run entire businesses with agents now… and I’m helping a budding AI Consultant jump start her business… exciting!
And more…
We had 16 students in our last Builder’s Table. They’ve all been unlocked.
The time for you to ai is now. Next Builder’s Table is Sept 9.
Best,
ps