What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do!?!?!?!
I have been so busy this week that I haven't had much time to read the newspaper. Most of my news has come from the CNN start screen I have my web browser programmed to every time I open my browser window. My husband has been in Boston this week, so as I dash out to run carpools in the morning, I snag the morning papers and throw them into a pile in the garage. But, yesterday afternoon, as I was running out to jump in the car and take the kids to swim practice I glanced down at the growing mound of papers and a headline caught me eye. "Adobe purchases Macromedia". Wow! Was all I could say. This is big! Then, I thought, oh my god, this is horrible!!!! This is horrible, because it spells doom and destruction for my favorite design tools, the way I work, my lifestyle as a designer. Ahhh, the agony!
You see, a long time ago, back when I was just getting into computer graphics at a little place called A.T. Kearney (where I made some of the nicest life-long friends, by the way, yes, that means you Elaine!!!! I know you are out there lurking and reading), I decided that Aldus' Freehand was a much more user friendly program than Adobe's Illustrator. I LOVE Freehand. I have grown with the program from its very inception. It is the program that I use everyday to create everything from complicated illustrations, to laying out brochures, magazines and annual reports. I use Freehand to map out my thumbnails for websites. I used it for EVERYTHING. When Freehand was acquired by Macromedia things just got better. Then, came a whole suite of programs that compliment the usage of Freehand...Flash and Dreamweaver and Fireworks. All these programs are the cornerstone of my work existence. I love them. I can't imagine life without them!
There has always been rivalry between Freehand and Illustrator, as to which was the better design tool. Almost like the rivalry between Macs and PCs. So, this acquisition in terms of design programs, would be like Bill Gates acquiring Apple...do you think they would keep the mac around after that??? So, do you think Adobe is going to keep Freehand alive after it gets a hold of it??? I am sad. Why, oh why, oh why??!?!!? Why do things have to change?
posted by Melissa Muldoon @ 9:08 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
i hear you melissa...hear your panic. i don't use any of the software you mention except for adobe which i'm not very adept in..so i have nothing substantial to contribute.
People generally dont like changes huh? but fret not, i doubt it'll morphed into anything you can't adapt to.
have a good day!
Hi Melissa,
Yes, who will live and who will die? What is Adobe up to? Do they want Macromedia's cash cow Dreamweaver? How about ColdFusion? Maybe they're only after Flash... No real money in it, but maybe.... Maybe this will be Adobe's go ahead to finally kill GoLive? Please?
I too had a mild panic attack (that is after picking my jaw up off the floor first) at hearing the news of the merger. I use both Macromedia Studio MX 2004 (for Dreamweaver mainly) and Creative Suite CS (for Photoshop and InDesign, etc) It was only with my most recent project that I've set aside PageMaker (which I still use extensively) and forced myself to learn InDesign.
I shared many of the opinions I read on the Macromedia forums after the announcement but, by Thursday, I calmed myself down with a couple thoughts:
1) The merger is not a done deal yet. It still needs to be approved by the shareholders AND the gov't regulators. It was only because they would have completely cornered the market with illustration packages that Adobe released Freehand to Macromedia when they swallowed Aldus up way back when. The deal is not expected to be finalized until the fall. Until then, who's going to upgrade? You? Not me. Why upgrade now to something that may be killed off in 6 months. They need to think of that -- which leads me to...
2) IF Adobe was smart - and this is a very big IF - they would run Macromedia as a subsidiary of Adobe keeping both product lines intact. Why? Because of people like me they will essentially get DOUBLE upgrade revenue when I upgrade to Studio MX 2008 AND CS4. If they consolidate and pare down the products to just their favorites ... well, that's only ONE upgrade from me isn't it? This type of thing is not unheard of in the software industry and something I hope they strongly consider.
Whatever Adobe hopes to accomplish they better announce it soon along with a time line of events because they'll have a virtual mutiny on their hands if they don't.
That's just my take on the whole thing. In the mean time, I hold my breath and wait...
Came across this "translation from PR speak to English" of Adobe's FAQ regarding the merger. Thought I'd share if you haven't seen it already:
http://daringfireball.net/2005/04/adobe_translation
Very funny Mike....but, sob... Doesn't make me feel much better...I am always a sucker for the underdog. Go Freehand!
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