[CWuestefeld]

I'm not sure how what Adobe insists on is at all relevant.

Reality informs us that there have always been competitors in the field: GIMP, DarkTable, ACDSee, Luminar, and many others.

It's surely true that their existence has been pushing Adobe to improve. And the good news for everyone is that they have: Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are improved products now, and so are those other competitors.

[jasomill]

Inertia, wide use across various industries, and specific features not available in other products.

Basically, it's the Microsoft Office of print and visual media.

[frollogaston]

So what was Adobe supposed to do, make a worse product to give the other ones a chance?