I should also add, Quark was the king until it wasn’t. Adobe will be the king until they aren’t.

In the past Adobe’s competition wasn’t as good. Now, the competitors products are just as good. In the past PS competitors lacked features pros needed like PMS spot channels/CMYK/LAB. Not anymore. And Resolve is very compelling in the video realm.

Many of Adobe’s core products have languished at the same time as many of the features that set them apart in the past are become less differentiating. The photo editing/vector drawing space is becoming more commoditized.

Which is the "just as good" alternative to Lightroom? I've found its tools to be astonishingly high quality. Adjustments have exactly the effect you expect them to, instead of something closely adjacent to what you expect. The spot remover is basically magical. RAW handling is top notch.

I haven't seen anything at all that comes close on a cheaper model.