adobe have just released creative cloud which is basically a "cloud" edition of there creative suite packages with a monthly subscription fee - while i'm still concerned about whether adobe will follow through on keeping software up to date or not while pocketing my precious dollars its no different to having CS6 really except billed monthly - theres no strict requirement to always be online to use the software, its only calling home at regular intervals and linked to your adobe ID to prevent hacking - although i'm sure some talented crackers will eventually break it - i can see many many larger software providers following this same model
the worrying thing to me is that whether the said software companies will continue actually updating and improving the product to make it worthwhile to continue paying the subscription fee
i am a strong advocate of you buy the software its yours to do what you like with it for as long as you like and not this, you only pay to be able to use the software and when you stop paying you stop getting to use it - this works if the software lives in the cloud but i can understand companies like adobe wanting to guarentee there revenue stream