Where they are kind of screwing people is for those customers who would buy a copy of one of their products, and use it for several years - skipping a few later releases - before upgrading to a newer version. There are people who purchased CS4 and are still using it for example, because it suits their needs. Under this new subscription model, you are essentially renting their program, and you cannot continue to use it outside of your subscription. While some people have argued that the pricing overall is no different than upgrading every year and a half under the old model, for those users who didn't upgrade every year and a half, it is much more expensive for them to continue using their programs.