[aidy]

I think when something is priced beyond what people can afford, and they don't have alternatives, they are more likely to acquire it some other way. Adobe is an interesting example - it's a premium product, and there are alternatives, but the talent in the design space seems to be almost exclusively using Adobe. Designers work in a global community, which makes it difficult to build skills to be competitive without equivalent access. If something costs 10+ times more on a regional salary than it would in say the US, then I'm not surprised that piracy is rife.

Subscription pricing has compounded this. Back when you bought up front and selectively paid for lower cost upgrade maintenance, people would stomach the pain, as you ended up with a product you had security of ownership on. Today, in South Africa as an example, the cost of an annual CC subscription could be as much as 10% of a junior designer's annual package, if not more. It's sad, as regions like Africa have young, creative populations who could really contribute to creative communities given half the chance.