> Users have a choice to not use Photoshop

I'm not sure about the rest of CC, but adobe has a near-monopoly with photoshop. I personally use Pixelmator for all my image editing needs, but I am not an image-editing pro... if I was Pixelmator would NOT cut it... my only real choice would be photoshop.

> their user base hasn't revolted and found something better,

If no viable alternatives exist, the choice is not do it or pay whatever they ask. Which is why many cc users feel like hostages.