[Skhalar]

Before I pirated PS I used GIMP.

After years of pirating PS, I ended up paying Adobe for 6+ years for Adobe CC because PS and Illustrator didn't even compare to GIMP/other softwares.

If they had perfected the DRM, and wasn't able to pirate. I don't think I would have ever paid for it.

[boringg]

Do you think the guilt (was there even any guilt) of having pirated it for many years also made you guy in? I ask as a function of a business strategy they could have let people ride for free until at a certain point they might feel some kind of obligation. I doubt that was ever part of anyones strategy but in hindsight is kind of interesting to riff on.

[mywittyname]

Non-business users will absolutely continue to pirate for as long as possible. Adobe products are basically unpiratable at this point, and the $20/mo subscription service is expensive, but reasonably affordable compared to the $600 or whatever the boxed software ran all those years ago.