The Streaming Software Phenomenon

The Streaming Software Phenomenon

September 14, 2017


It seems that almost every application and bit of software that many of us used for anything from watching television shows all the way to designing logos, has been re-marketed to the world in the form of a pay monthly app that you can no longer own, only lease on a monthly basis.


This of course has been in motion for many years so it isn’t new, but what is different is the fact that

now most people will never own a physical copy of the tools they use and are beholden to the internet. The most commonly known example would be the Adobe Creative Cloud. Previously to get this software you would have to buy the CD and install it on your computer, however this method left

developers open to piracy by people who would create crack copies of their software.


Adobe became wise to this reality and brought the Creative Cloud model to the public which means instead of buying a package you would simply pay a monthly subscription to use the various programs they offer. Prices vary depending on what people want but if you wanted a programme like Photoshop for example, you would sign up to Creative Cloud register your details and then pay a fixed monthly amount of $19.99. The other alternative is to have access to all the apps and pay $49.99 per month.


Adobe have also been generous by allowing people to try out their software for a month as a trial so people can decide if this works for them. This actually works out cheaper than paying for a physical software package of all the software, which factors in the packaging and the CD so naturally if you are just getting software and manuals online, the money saved on giving intangible software items reflects in the price.




This method of distributing software always end up falling heavily to the hands of piracy isnt unreasonable

but it does seem to be getting overwhelming.



Consider the amount of apps that any person uses for work and entertainment, Netflix, Amazon, Prime, Sky television, then Adobe creative cloud and nearly any other application. When you really think about it in context you could end up paying monthly for so many apps and actually forget you have them. Before you only had to worry about losing something in the cupboard or bookshelf but now you have to worry about forgetting that a monthly payment is coming out of your account for something you forgot you had and thus forgot to cancel your direct debit. It does all come down to organization but that is an awful lot of passwords to remember. Of course

you could just use the same password but how comfortable are you using the same password for so many apps

connected to a payment that comes out of our bank account every month. Then factor in how many other

passwords and pin numbers you need to keep in your memory.

It is not all doom and gloom however because there is something that

can be done to prevent things

getting out of control in order to manage to chaos.


  1. Firstly ask yourself if you need this thing you are paying for, is it essential to be paying for Adobe creative cloud every month and paying for a service like Netflix? If you are busy working on creative cloud daily maybe you hardly have time to watch much television anyway so maybe you can give the streaming television a miss.

  2. Do you actually need all the software you are paying for? An example of this is the similarity between Photoshop and Manga studio. Both software programmes are so similar that many creative people have admitted that they no longer use Photoshop since discovering manga studio. This of course depends on what you require from these programmes but it is worth thinking about.

  3. Consider using different emails and different accounts for different purposes. You don’t want to go overdrawn or miss a payment for something like an important bill that can incur severe penalties because you already paid for a software package. Remember that many of these programmes (adobe creative cloud in particular) do not terminate your account straight away and are very reasonable.

  4. Have important passwords like online banking different from the passwords you have for multiple apps. This is especially important for people who may share computers to do their work.



Tell us of your stories relating to this subject, maybe you had a similar story managing multiple apps and got all your passwords and details mixed up or had a admin issue with so much information. Whatever it is we would like to hear your story.

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