If you haven't read my prior review, you may want to start there if you are curious about how far the services have come in less than a year. In the last couple of weeks, I decided to partner up with both services so that I could get some credit for linking to their site and to be able to add their content for demonstration purposes to this review. Lynda.com has made me a partner, but Kelbyone turned me down after reading my last article on the subject. Maybe they didn't appreciate my prior review? Not sure, but I have not received any money from Lynda.com at this point and it will not affect my review. However, I wanted to mention it for full disclosure.
Both services have made some changes over the last year. The biggest change to Kelbyone is that they lowered the monthly cost to 19.99 a month (or $199 for a full year). They were charging $25, so that is a pretty decent price drop. I understand that it still isn't free and if you search on YouTube you can find some great Photography workshops. Personally, I would suggest B&H and Adorama's Youtube channels if you don't want to spend money on these type of services.
The website for Kelbyone is still glitchy. I logged in yesterday to start research for my review and was greated with this:
Both services have made some changes over the last year. The biggest change to Kelbyone is that they lowered the monthly cost to 19.99 a month (or $199 for a full year). They were charging $25, so that is a pretty decent price drop. I understand that it still isn't free and if you search on YouTube you can find some great Photography workshops. Personally, I would suggest B&H and Adorama's Youtube channels if you don't want to spend money on these type of services.
The website for Kelbyone is still glitchy. I logged in yesterday to start research for my review and was greated with this:
Also, they haven't fixed any of the iPad issues I described last year, like the basic feature that will pick up where you left off or the ability to put videos in a playlist. Also , you still have to scroll through videos to get to the last one you watched. The website will allow you to "heart" a video, which you still can't do on the iPad, but for some reason they don't always show up in the "heart" section on the iPad. In fact, I went to the section on my iPad and the first video on the list wasn't something I "hearted". I clicked on it to see if I could figure out what it was and got this:
 |  |
Despite the fact they they haven't really fixed any of those issues, they do have one great feature. The ability to download a class for watching offline is included in the normal pricing. Also, when a class has project files available (which is admittedly rare), Kelbyone supplies them without extra cost. Lynda.com has a basic service $25 a month ($250 a year) and "Premium" membership for $37.50 ($375 a year). The ability to download a video for offline viewing and the ability to download project files are only included in the $37.50 service.
The other improving area of Kelbyone is that they have a constantly growing database of discount offers from popular businesses (Adorama, Smugmug, Apple, and many more). Before I did my review last year, I tried to click on their Apple discount page and it said it was coming soon. However, in October, I actually used Kelbyone to save $12 on an iPad Air 2 and $10 on AppleCare for it. That paid for over a month of Kelbyone. I really wished I would think about the discounts more often because there are a lot of opportunities for the typical photographer. Even if you are just buying a Mac, I would suggest signing up for Kelbyone just to see if you can get a discount. I noticed that the iMac is not included in their current savings, but you can get great savings on a MBP. I should mention that some of their "discounts" for certain websites don't work, though. As an example, they have a discount code for a software website, but since they were running a special (which is not unusual for software), when I put in the code, it said that I couldn't use it.
As I mentioned last year, Kelbyone also gives you access to "Photoshop User Magazine" in pdf format. While I mainly subscribe for the videos, this just adds more value to the service. When you quit the service, you will still have access to the magazines you downloaded. One other thing I noticed is that you can use your iPad to directly access the Kelbyone website and access videos that way. While I generally prefer using apps because you can get to everything quicker, in this case, I would suggest using the website (just put a bookmark on your iPad's home screen) unless you need to download a video to watch later. It is more up to date with your favorites and will also give you access to the websites extra features. You can even download the Photoshop magazine to your iPad and save it to iBooks. My only caveat here is that the layout of the magazine in iBooks shows two pages all the time which reads better in landscape mode, but then the font is a bit too small.
As you can see Kelbyone gives you a lot for the money. I joined their service last year around this time and I have stuck with them the entire time. The service has gotten cheaper, while adding more features.
Lynda.com still remained the less frustrating choice for those using the iPad (I found their website to be much less "glitchy", as well) and for those that want to watch a video and be able to easily pick up where they left off. Also, their playlists actually work on the iPad. Personally, I watch most of these videos by streaming to the AppleTV and the fact that Lynda has the Airplay controls built right into the app makes it easy to start a video and easily send it to the TV. Kelbyone, on the other hand, doesn't have it built in. You have to go into the iOS device's Control Center and use it to send the video to the AppleTV. If you already started the video, it requires you to restart it. Lynda.com also added "Google Casting" to their iOS interface. For those those that don't want to spend $99 on an AppleTV, the Chromecast is a great ~$35 option to get the video to the TV. Kelbyone does not have Google Casting built in.
Below is an example of the video screen from the Lynda iPad app:
The other improving area of Kelbyone is that they have a constantly growing database of discount offers from popular businesses (Adorama, Smugmug, Apple, and many more). Before I did my review last year, I tried to click on their Apple discount page and it said it was coming soon. However, in October, I actually used Kelbyone to save $12 on an iPad Air 2 and $10 on AppleCare for it. That paid for over a month of Kelbyone. I really wished I would think about the discounts more often because there are a lot of opportunities for the typical photographer. Even if you are just buying a Mac, I would suggest signing up for Kelbyone just to see if you can get a discount. I noticed that the iMac is not included in their current savings, but you can get great savings on a MBP. I should mention that some of their "discounts" for certain websites don't work, though. As an example, they have a discount code for a software website, but since they were running a special (which is not unusual for software), when I put in the code, it said that I couldn't use it.
As I mentioned last year, Kelbyone also gives you access to "Photoshop User Magazine" in pdf format. While I mainly subscribe for the videos, this just adds more value to the service. When you quit the service, you will still have access to the magazines you downloaded. One other thing I noticed is that you can use your iPad to directly access the Kelbyone website and access videos that way. While I generally prefer using apps because you can get to everything quicker, in this case, I would suggest using the website (just put a bookmark on your iPad's home screen) unless you need to download a video to watch later. It is more up to date with your favorites and will also give you access to the websites extra features. You can even download the Photoshop magazine to your iPad and save it to iBooks. My only caveat here is that the layout of the magazine in iBooks shows two pages all the time which reads better in landscape mode, but then the font is a bit too small.
As you can see Kelbyone gives you a lot for the money. I joined their service last year around this time and I have stuck with them the entire time. The service has gotten cheaper, while adding more features.
Lynda.com still remained the less frustrating choice for those using the iPad (I found their website to be much less "glitchy", as well) and for those that want to watch a video and be able to easily pick up where they left off. Also, their playlists actually work on the iPad. Personally, I watch most of these videos by streaming to the AppleTV and the fact that Lynda has the Airplay controls built right into the app makes it easy to start a video and easily send it to the TV. Kelbyone, on the other hand, doesn't have it built in. You have to go into the iOS device's Control Center and use it to send the video to the AppleTV. If you already started the video, it requires you to restart it. Lynda.com also added "Google Casting" to their iOS interface. For those those that don't want to spend $99 on an AppleTV, the Chromecast is a great ~$35 option to get the video to the TV. Kelbyone does not have Google Casting built in.
Below is an example of the video screen from the Lynda iPad app:
Notice that I have boxes around the Chromecast (Google Casting) and Airplay icons in the pic above. You can also see the ability to save the video to your Playlists (next to the Casting box). The list that pops up allows you to save the video to the playlist of your choice. If you click "Go to playlists", you will be exported to your playlists where you can add a new playlist. However, I did not see an easy way to get back to the video you are watching, so I would just put it in ""My playlist" and move it to a newly created playlist later.
The other great feature is that when you click on the "Videos" box, it will show you every video in the lesson with an eyeball symbol next to the videos you have already watched.
Below is the Kelbyone screenshot. Notice the lack of choices compared with Lynda.com You have the "Class Info" and "Lessons" (which don't have any way to show you what has played) and the Options panel has downloading and video speed choices (playing the video at a faster speed is not something I would ever use.):
 |  |
Content
As I mentioned last year, Lynda.com has great photography courses, but it also has an unbelievable number of classes that cover everything from getting the best of your Mac to Pivot Tables in Excel to learning to think like a Songwriter and much, much, more. I only have one complaint related to one of their changes. They no longer have a category for "Instructor". However, it does a good job of finding those courses if you simply use their search engine to type in the instructor's name. They eliminated the handy list of classes in each category that made it easy to find a class for your needs, but it has been replaced by a way to "filter" and once you apply those "filters", everything usually fits on a page or two. In addition to "Category" filters, you also have the option of filtering by release date or in alphabetical order.
Notice in the picture below the numerous subjects that are covered at Lynda.com:
Notice in the picture below the numerous subjects that are covered at Lynda.com:
In the picture below, you get a good idea how the filters work (click on picture for a larger image):
 |  |
Lynda.com Sample courses:
Since I can link to free videos on Lynda.com, I thought I would put a few example videos here to show you the wide range of subjects.
iOS8 Health app
Excel Pivot Tables
Night Photography
As I mentioned in my previous article, Kelbyone is mainly concentrated toward photography and video production. However, Kelbyone seems more aimed toward someone with a lot more experience. For example, when you go to the Kelbyone "Video" section and search for iMovie (a very popular program for the amateur), you get about 10 minutes of video to watch. If you do that same search on Lynda.com you get hours of video (more than one entire course). I should mention Lynda has a course date, so I can see that they have an iMovie course from December 2014. I can't see anything related to the date of the course when I pull up the iMove class (or any other class for that matter) in Kelbyone.
Below is a list of some of the categories on Kelbyone:
Below is a list of some of the categories on Kelbyone:
Lynda.com allows you to search from the main page. To search from Kelbyone's page, you have to go to a category first. I assume (I could be wrong) that when you chose the category for new courses, you can search everything in their catalog, but it is unclear.
Below is a quick positive and negative chart for each service:
Kelbyone
Positives:
1. Lower price (19.99 a month)
2. Great Photography based videos by pros
3. Ability to download video for offline viewing
4. Magazine
5. Discounts with some manufacturers
Negatiives:
1. Glitchy website
2. iPad app is lacking features
3. Courses limited when compared to the competition
1. Lower price (19.99 a month)
2. Great Photography based videos by pros
3. Ability to download video for offline viewing
4. Magazine
5. Discounts with some manufacturers
Negatiives:
1. Glitchy website
2. iPad app is lacking features
3. Courses limited when compared to the competition
Lynda.com
Postives:
1. Website has more features (I didn't even mention their Matrix Center that shows stats related to subjects you have watched or their recommended classes based on videos you have watched in the past).
2. Website is less glitchy
3. iPad app has more features
4. Playlists in iPad app actually work
5. Classes cover a much wider range of courses.
Negatives:
1. Not as many "extra" features
2. Pricier than Kelbyone (especially if you need offline downloads)
1. Website has more features (I didn't even mention their Matrix Center that shows stats related to subjects you have watched or their recommended classes based on videos you have watched in the past).
2. Website is less glitchy
3. iPad app has more features
4. Playlists in iPad app actually work
5. Classes cover a much wider range of courses.
Negatives:
1. Not as many "extra" features
2. Pricier than Kelbyone (especially if you need offline downloads)
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
My feeling is that both services have a lot to offer. I have had several months with both services over the years and I think it is best to jump back and forth depending on their current class offerings. As I mentioned last year, and that feeling hasn't changed, if I had to choose one to use forever, it would be Lynda.com because their classes cover Photography/Videography from beginner to expert in a more thorough way (see my mention of iMovie above) and they have so many other courses in areas that I have an interest (Youtube, instagram, twitter, Flickr, Microsoft Office, marketing, etc.). It is simply a much more complete service. However, I don't have to decide the service I want to use forever, so if I know I am going to buy a product from one of KelbyOne's discount sponsors or want to learn about a new Lightroom feature from Scott Kelby, I can jump from one service and back to the other.
As a side note, I realize that there are courses on Youtube and DVDs that you can own forever that are a less expensive way of learning some of these subjects. I watch some of them as well. However, you may have to wade through piles of trash (in the case of Youtube) to get to the real gems or in the case of DVDs, you won't keep up as easily with new updates in the field you are studying. Right now, I would rather spend my time going straight to the gems, without watching extra commercial clips, and pay a bit of money for the time savings. However, each person has to come to their own time vs money assessments.
Let me know if you have any questions or if I missed something.
As a side note, I realize that there are courses on Youtube and DVDs that you can own forever that are a less expensive way of learning some of these subjects. I watch some of them as well. However, you may have to wade through piles of trash (in the case of Youtube) to get to the real gems or in the case of DVDs, you won't keep up as easily with new updates in the field you are studying. Right now, I would rather spend my time going straight to the gems, without watching extra commercial clips, and pay a bit of money for the time savings. However, each person has to come to their own time vs money assessments.
Let me know if you have any questions or if I missed something.
RSS Feed