Photoshop is too expensive!!!

I had a conversation with someone today about the cost of Photoshop CS2. The current price listed on the website is $649.00. This is the full version. Photoshop elements 5.0, the lost cost alternative, goes for about 89.00.

My dad refers to Photoshop Elements as "Photshop for Dummies". It can't even do channels, and it is only for Windows. The full version of photoshop is one of the most pirated pieces of software out there on the web. Adobe knows this, and this is why they so many levels of copy protection.

There is a economic term refered to Elasticity of price. The idea here is that the demand for a product will increase if the price lowers, and it will decrease as the price increases.

The theory here is that Adobe would sell more copies of Photoshop if they lowered the price, and would have less piracy.

I used to do photo retouching for a living. When I did, my company purchased the full version for me to use. I no longer do any kind of graphic arts for a living. I do have a digital camera, but I no longer have a copy of Photoshop. I can't justify spending 649 dollars on software that I would only use as a hobby.

I think the solution for Adobe is to have three different price points for Photoshop. They could have the full version and elements at the current prices, but have a version of Photoshop that had most of the features of the full version for around $299. The inbetween version of Photoshop would have features like layers, history, channels and paths.

I personally feel that this would cut down on the piracy, and Adobe would make a lot more money.

I know some people will say I should download and use GIMP. I have tried using GIMP, and I have to say, GIMP sucks.

I am a huge fan of John and Thomas Knoll. John Knoll gave me the encouragement to become a Software Engineer, so for the record I am biased towards Photoshop.