Why I Left Adobe for Apple: A Creative Economist’s Confession

There comes a point in every creator’s life when you ask —
"Am I creating, or am I just paying to create?"

For years, my creative workflows were chained to Adobe’s ecosystem. Premiere Pro, Audition, Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects — the usual suspects. I paid every month, and the tools kept evolving, faster than my needs, yet slower than my imagination.

Every creative session started with a reminder of my subscription renewal date. The tools belonged to Adobe, my work belonged to me, and the money belonged to neither — it was in perpetual transit, month after month.

The Economics of Ownership vs Rentership

In lifeconomics, there’s no such thing as a free tool —

• Ownership creates freedom because the cost ends, but the value stays.
• Rentership creates dependency because the cost repeats, and the value is conditional.

For ₹4,300 every month, I wasn’t just paying for tools — I was paying for the anxiety of losing access if I ever paused payment. In essence, my creativity was on lease.

The Realisation: My EMI Already Exists

The breakthrough came when I calculated —
Switching to Mac Mini M4 with Final Cut Pro & Logic Pro bundled meant an EMI of ₹4,446 per month for 2 years.

That’s almost exactly the amount I was bleeding into Adobe every month.
But the difference?

• After two years, Adobe still owns the tools.
• After two years, I own the machine, the tools, and the freedom to create forever.

The frugal economist inside me smiled. This was not just an upgrade, it was a philosophical correction — from perpetual rentership to conscious ownership.

Tools Should Be Tools, Not Masters

A hammer does not charge you monthly rent to stay in your toolbox.
A pen does not expire if you miss a subscription fee.

But in the digital world, we allowed this absurdity to become normal —
The tools of creation became masters of creators.

Public Palika, my lifelong thought project, believes in local self-reliance, in reclaiming ownership over both knowledge and tools. My own creative economy was contradicting my core belief — and I had to fix that.

Apple is Not the Hero — But Ownership Is

This is not about Apple being better than Adobe.
This is about switching from rented creativity to owned creativity.
I may still use Adobe occasionally (perhaps on someone else’s machine), but I refuse to lease my creative freedom anymore.

What I Gained

✅ A faster, purpose-built machine.
✅ Tools optimised for my workflow.
✅ No more subscription anxiety.
✅ A clear path to creative independence.

Most importantly — I stopped confusing access with ownership, and I reclaimed the joy of knowing my tools belong to me, the way my thoughts do.

A Lesson for Every Creator

Before you subscribe to a tool, ask:
"Am I paying for what it does, or for my fear of losing access?"

If it’s the second reason — pause and reconsider.
Your creativity deserves tools that serve you, not the other way around.

Philosophical Footnote

Creativity is curiosity made visible.
Tools are curiosity’s hands, not its chains.

What’s Next?

Now, every time I sit down to edit, the machine is mine.
The software is mine.
The story is mine.

Public Palika will be written, edited, voiced, and filmed on a system that reflects its own core principle —
Creative sovereignty begins at home.

If you’re stuck in a subscription trap too — think about your own creative economy.
Are you creating wealth for yourself, or just feeding the platforms?

The choice is yours.
It always was.