Breaking free of Adobe & Chrome for the Media Making Academic Privacy Advocate: Part 1 — The Overview
As a professor at a local teaching college, I tend to make and manipulate a lot of media for classes and the college, such as:
- Recording and editing non-linear videos to be published as lectures to YouTube
- Creating and editing PDFs,
- Creating and manipulating Raster and Vector images, and
- Basic HTML5+CSS3+JavaScript pages with webfonts.
As such, I’ve subscribed to Adobe’s Creative Cloud for years, as it gave me access to all of the tools I’d need to use to do the above and then some.
I’ve used Google Chrome for as long as I can remember — ever since it overtook Firefox in terms of extensions and performance. Even though it was often a resource hog, both in terms of battery and performance, it was the best browser for my needs.
However, as a poorly paid advocate for an open society, using Google’s browser and Adobe’s subscription services never sat well with me or my budget. But, the tools enabled me to get the job done and done well, although they added a host of never-ending processes to my computer and a phantom itch on my conscience.
The Rundown
With the release of Firefox Quantum, there was an occasion to revisit the software I use. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve moved to. The list is not perfect, but it is the best blend of privacy, cost, and usability I’ve found thus far.
The Essentials
- Chrome to Firefox Quantum ($0)
- Photoshop to Affinity Photo ($39 one-time)
- Premier Pro to DaVinci Resolve 14 ($0)
- Acrobat DC to Foxit Phantom PDF Education ($9/year)
- Dreamweaver to Blue Griffon ($0) and Notepad+++($0)
This process is not complete. Here’s what I’m still working on:
Non-Essentials
While I don’t use this in the course of my regular workflow, here are additional changes I’ve made or are looking to make.
- Illustrator to Affinity Designer ($39 one-time)
- Audition to [____________] (have not had the occasion to look carefully for a replacement, but it is on my list)
- Hangouts to Signal Private Messenger ($0)
Cost Savings
Making this move has come with significant cost savings.
- Before: $30/mo or $360/year or 1,800 over 5 years
- Now: One time fee of $39 + $9/year or $84 over 5 years
For a career public educator, going from $1,800 to $84 is some serious savings.
Preview of the Series
In this series, I’ll talk about my end-user experiences and other options for each of the categories. As I do, I’ll update the rundown section with a table of contents to detailed discussions of the move.
