The CC model is less about fighting piracy than about making sure every user keeps paying the regular upkeep. The problem Adobe was facing was that many users upgraded every other version, or were quite happy to keep working in an older version, and were not inclined to update, since it did everything they needed, and no more.
Exacerbating this problem is the fact that Adobe has/had trouble inventing and adding new snazzy features to convince users to buy the latest versions.
All of which started to have a detrimental impact on their profits. With the CC model users are forced into a model where they have to keep paying indefinitely to use their (source) files and software. If your credit card maxes out, or expires and you fail to notice it you are instantly cut off from your applications. It’s happened to students of mine: they could not open their files anymore.
The CC model did not hamper pirated copies much, if at all - the day after CC was introduced the newest pirated versions were made available on the regular “channels”.
I think your student lied to you to get more time for their project. You are not instantly cut off, you continue to have access to all of your files you stored on the cloud, and you still have access to all your local files. The applications continue to run for 30 days after your payment stopped.
Just tested today a different vector tool for interface design on OS X called Sketch 3 and it has a pretty nice new feature allowing you to select a path point and simply round / fillet that point instead of like in Illustrator applying an edge round effect to the complete vector.
There are many areas of opportunity to improve Photoshop or illustrator but I think they simply don’t need to. Hardly another software can penetrate the market they have captured.
Only for small designers secondary products can replace the big guns which sadly dominate design studios.