On 18 Dec 2003 15:43:34 GMT, (Tacit) wrote:
This assumes that the home user became interested in this type of program within the last few years. Elements has not been around all that long. Many of us home users started out with PhotoShop because there just weren’t other programs available that did what we wanted.
Paint Shop Pro? Color It? GIMP?
I’ve never heard of Color It or GIMP. PSP was around, and – if I remember right – a free download when I started with PS. I lost it somewhere in the change of computers over the years.
Part of "what we wanted" was advice and help from others. I’m including in "we" novices at this type of thing, people without any sort of training from any classes, and all of the amateur hobbyists that seem to be held in such low regard here.
PhotoShop had users. There were Bulletin Boards (remember them?) with PS help. There were articles to read. PSP didn’t have that yet.
The "foolish" part is a rather foolish statement. To pay $600 to engage in a hobby is only foolish when a wife states the foolishness of spending money on a hobby that could be spent on new carpeting.
I have hobbies I’ve spent far more than $600 on…it becomes "foolish" only when you spend that $600 on things you do not need and will not use.
I don’t know what your hobbies are, Tacit, but go look in my golf bag at that graphite shafted Big Bertha that I did not need and didn’t do a damn thing for my game other than allow me to hit it further out of bounds. God, I’ll bet I’ve spent $600 on putters alone and I still can’t putt.
I’ve never done it, but how many exercise bicycles, rowing machines, and health club memberships have readers here foolishly spent money on. If you make a living that produces more money than the necessities require, you are entitled to blow some of it on useless and unneeded things just because you want to.
Home users do not know what color separation is, do not know the difference between spot color and process color, do not particularly care about CMYK color correction, and don’t need any of those capacities. When such a user purchases a high-end prepress product, he is wasting money.
So what? How many SUVs are driven only on paved streets, and how many pick-up trucks are used to haul payloads no bigger than a flat of seedlings? We buy what we want because we want it.
I guarantee you that you spend money on something that I consider to be complete waste of time and resources. It’s not my business to worry about that, though, and it’s not yours to worry about what I spend mine on.
I’ve got far more than $600 invested in scuba gear, way more than $600 in golf clubs, and considerably more than $600 in 35 mm camera equipment. I use PhotoShop more than any of this stuff.
Do you use ALL OF Photoshop? Or did you buy capacity and capabilities you don’t use?
It’s not a Chinese restaurant where you order one from Column A and two from Column B. You buy a package.
I don’t know how much of what’s available that I use. Probably somewhere between 10 and 25 percent. A lot of what I do is the same thing over and over. Whatever it is, it’s higher than last month’s figure. I spent an enjoyable three hours in Borders reading the graphics magazines and have been applying some of what I learned since then. I enjoy doing that.
I drive an eleven year old Toyota Camry. The power antenna is disabled and it’s missing a wheel cover. I don’t give a rat’s ass about cars. I haven’t made a car payment in 8 years. I spend my money on what pleases me to own. I don’t need any more justification than that.